


Parallel Lines

by Izzoso



Category: Wild Kratts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Extremely Dubious Consent, Future Character Death, Gaslighting, Lots of Pain and Angst, M/M, Manipulation, Mental and Verbal Abuse, i know i do, let's pick on Chris as usual, no happy ending, you know you love it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 04:07:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 43,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11981799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzoso/pseuds/Izzoso
Summary: In an alternate universe, Chris Kratt had gone missing and assumed dead when he was a young child. Martin continued on his path in life and eventually met the crew of the Tortuga. Life is good as a creature adventurer, besides the occasional blip from the bad guys. When Zach must step down from his bad guy role, his brother steps in to his place and reins hell for the crew of the Tortuga. This is the story of Christopher Varmitechs descent in to darkness.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well guys, I think this is it. My final story for the Wild Kratts Fandom (...probably...). It's time to spread my wings and spread my angst into other fandoms (we'll see...). I'd like to go out with a bang, so I'm really going to try and make this as angsty and painful (for the brothers, not you, my beautiful readers) as possible. Lets sit back and watch Zach mindfuck Chris :)

It was commencements, and Christopher Varmitech was about to collect his Degree in Environmental Engineering from Duke University. His brother Zach was going to come to cheer in the crowds for him, and even though he had tried to discourage him from specializing in anything environmental related, saying it was a waste of time, he was still proud regardless. 

Christopher wasn’t sure why he had chosen this particular field of study. He supposed it was because his brother was an amazing inventor and he had always wanted to follow in his footsteps. Christopher was dismayed to discover he wasn’t very good at inventing, but decided to go in to engineering, where he could learn use models provided by science combined with innovative thinking to solve problems and create new designs. He felt as though it would be the closest route to being like Zach.

As for the environmental side? He had always felt a pull towards nature. He knew his brother often used the natural resources to his advantages, but Christopher found he had a soft spot for them. Zach teased him relentlessly about it but had always supported him when he needed it. He loved his brother and was always willing to look the other way with his use of animals in his inventions. They didn’t hurt the animals, so he figured it was okay.

Christopher was going to continue his education and work towards his master’s degree, but was planning to spend the summer travelling with his brother. Zach said he needed real world experience and had offered to tutor him. Christopher had laughed, but happily agreed. It had been a long time since they had spent some quality time together.

He was so lost in thought about the upcoming summer that he bumped shoulders with someone walking in the opposite direction.

“Oh! I’m so sorry.” Christopher said, whirling around. Smiling back at him was a very handsome man in his early to middle twenties, with sandy brown hair and blue eyes. He had the distinct feeling that he had met this man before, but he wasn’t sure where.

"It's okay. I remember my graduation, it was hectic." He shrugged, his voice warm and amused. 

"Graduation, huh. Then I take it you aren't a current student here?"

"Not any more. I graduated a few years ago. I got my Degree in Zoology." The man smiled. He seemed very easy going. "How about you?"

"Environmental Engineering." He smiled back. The man nodded, as though he was pleased with his answer. His reaction made Christopher crave his approval for some reason. "Is someone you know graduating?"

"Oh, no. I'm actually a guest speaker. In fact... what time is it?" The man looked at his watch and seemed surprised. "Oh, geeze, I didn't realize the time. The ceremony is about to start."

Christopher wondered if he looked as disappointed as he felt because the older man smiled again and added: "It was great to meet you..."

"Christopher." He eagerly held his hand out to the man. 

"Christopher. My name is Martin. I hope we get the chance to meet again" he reached forward and shook his hand. As their skin touched, it was as though an electric current ran through him. Martin must have had the same sensation, judging by his sharp intake of breath. Their hands lingered a little longer than polite, before he pulled back. Martin smiles, and gives him a quick wink before heading in the opposite direction.

-

“Welcome graduates! Our guest speaker tonight is Martin Kratt, an esteemed animal research biologist who was the recipient of the young scientist award for his research contribution in the area of zoology, and the author of many published articles in many biological scientific journals. Martin also sat where you all sat only 4 years ago, as a graduate of Duke University’s Zoology program, so he knows exactly how you all feel at this moment. Give a hand to Martin Kratt!” 

Martin stepped on stage, and Christopher’s heart skipped a beat. He mindlessly clapped, feeling oddly star struck for some reason.

“Thank you for that kind introduction and thank you for inviting me to speak today. I'm very pleased to be here to join you in celebrating this wonderful occasion.” Martin said as he took his place at the podium. Christopher was stunned. This was the same man who he bumped into in the hallway? He had done so much in such a short time period.

Christopher found himself admiring the man as he spoke. Not only was he a smart, accomplished young man, but he was terribly attractive. He had a tanned, athletic build, both of which were probably attributed to all the time he spent in the field. Under the spotlights he looked angelic. Christopher quietly groaned to himself at that cheesy thought. When he managed to catch Martin’s eye during the speech, his heart rate shot up. What on earth was wrong with him? He felt like he was back in high school.

“Life doesn't usually follow the plans you lay out for yourself. You will all experience the highs and lows of life, the difficult and the easy and unfortunately, there may sometimes be times of too many difficulties and just not enough smooth sailing. Your true success will be defined by how you handle both of these times.

Let me leave you with this thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson. ‘Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail’. Best of luck in all your future endeavors!”

-

That evening, the various faculties threw parties and the department of civil and environmental engineering was having one at the newly renovated Brodhead Center on campus. Zach hadn’t made it to the ceremony, but he had managed to show up to the party, which made Christopher suspicious.

“Did you purposely miss the ceremony??” He questioned his brother when he saw him.

“Me? I would never!” Zach placed a hand over his heart, pretending to be wounded. Chris stared at him and crossed his arms. “Alright, alright, you got me. They’re just so boring! I was barely awake for my own! But I wanted to be here for you, to show you to how proud I am of you, little brother.”

“Thanks Zach. I’m glad you’re here.” He gave him a quick hug before they entered the party.

It was an open bar event and both Zach and Christopher had already had a lot to drink by the time dinner was finished. He was thankful to celebrate with his brother, but more than once had to excuse himself to hide in the bathroom. When Zach got drunk, he got very hands-y. Christopher knew they weren't related by blood as he was adopted, so his brother’s crush on him was innocent, but he had never felt the same way. Tonight was especially dangerous though since he himself was drunk, and after meeting Martin he could feel himself longing to be touched. It was a poor combination.

He was thankful when Zach had to leave early, due to a 'business meeting' in the morning. Christopher knew it was really because he had had too much to drink. His brother had tried to convince him to leave with him, but this was one of the last nights he'd really get to spend with his school friends. They would see each other at home later, and he only hoped Zach would be passed out and not waiting up for him. He was ashamed to realize he had probably led his brother on a bit tonight. 

After he walked his brother to the town car, he slowly made his way back to the party. This last year had been so stressful and made him question his choices in life many times. It felt good to let loose tonight. He’d probably pay for it tomorrow with a wicked hangover, but for now he just wanted to enjoy his freedom. 

Christopher ended up bumping in to one of the planters as he walked down the sidewalk and he laughed to himself. Maybe he was drunker than he thought. He shook his head, as though trying to shake off his drunk, but ended up losing his balance. Strong arms wrapped around him, stopping him from face-planting into the cement. Chris was positive he was going to die from embarrassment, especially when he looked up in to familiar blue eyes. It was Martin again. 

"Christopher? Are you alright?" Martin laughed, standing him upright again. "We really have to stop meeting like this."

"Why are you still here?" Christopher blurted out, blushing furiously. His drunken mind was processing everything so slow. 

"I was at the biology department’s party. Although it looks like yours was more fun than ours." He kept his hands on Christopher’s shoulders to keep him steady. Again Christopher was struck with how familiar the man seemed. And how attractive he was. 

"Are you going to be alright to get home?" He asked, cocking his head to the side, as if observing a strange animal in the wild. Christopher felt self-conscious under the scrutiny. 

“Yeah, sure…” He said, looking in the direction he had just come. He had sent his brother home in their town car… It looked like he would be cabbing home. When he realized he had been staring down an empty corridor for too long, he snapped his head back and saw Martin watching him with an amused look on his face. “Did you say something?”

“I hope I’m not going to regret this, but would you like a ride home?” He laughed out. “Just promise not to puke in my car.”

“I can’t make that promise.” Christopher said, deadpan. 

“Alright… coffee first. Then ride.”

-

The two of them sat at a café, talking about school. Christopher laughed, sharing a story about a group project gone wrong, where a decimal miscalculation caused a dam to fail and flood a fake town site downstream. It had been his first and last failing grade. He actually scored the highest in all his year, he proudly mentioned. Martin told him about the time he accidentally let a python loose in the biology department, or how he had worked in one of the restaurants on campus to make some money during school and some of the funnier customer interactions he had had. 

“She actually wanted me to fix the umbrella because when she sat down the table was shady, and an hour later, it wasn’t shady anymore.” Martin raised his eyebrows as he retold the story. “She didn’t believe me when I told her that the sun moves, which means shadows change!”

Eventually they headed to the parking lot, Christopher sober enough to not puke in Martin’s car. He was so curious what an ‘esteemed’ biologist drove and had to pick his jaw off the floor when he finally found out.

“Is this really your vehicle?” Christopher laughed when he looked at the beat-up all-terrain vehicle in front of him. “This is... not what I was expecting. It’s a little… rustic.”

“Excuse me? This is the Createrra, and she is not rustic.” He acted indignant towards Christopher’s description of the vehicle. “You’re welcome to walk if you don’t like it.”

“Do you even know how to drive?” Christopher countered, running his hand over a crumpled part of the hood. Martin was trying, and failing, to hold back a grin.

“It is an all-terrain vehicle, you know. She drives in ALL terrain. Things happen. Now get in.” He said, hopping in without bothering to open the door. Christopher tried to be civil and open the door, only to find that it was slightly bent and wouldn’t budge. He gave Martin a shake of his head and hopped in.

As they started to drive, Martin found himself questioning what he was doing. He barely knew Christopher, and now he was driving this stranger home? He should have just let the younger man take a taxi, but he had wanted to spend more time with him, and he found himself oddly protective of him. This was all to make sure he got home safe, he told himself. It had nothing to do with the fact that Christopher was smart and absolutely beautiful. Martin had been stunned when they first ran in to each other, and then delighted the second time.

There was something about Christopher that was so familiar, as though they had met before, but he couldn’t think of where or when. Perhaps he just had one of those faces. He glanced over at the younger man and grinned when he spied him staring back. As though he didn’t realize what he was doing, Christopher’s head snapped forward, obviously embarrassed. 

As he returned to watching the road, he could see Christopher glance back over at him. Deciding to test the waters, he licked his lower lip, before biting it. It had the desired effect, because as he looked back over, Christopher had a slight blush and was staring at his lips.

Martin needed to look away. The lust on the younger man’s face was causing a dull ache in his groin. Not only that, but the smell of alcohol mixed with the cologne on Christopher was intoxicating. He wanted to bury his face in his neck and…

No. He had to stop. It wouldn’t be right. He barely knew him. They should talk. Have a normal conversation… about what? Martins head was full of dirty thoughts. That wouldn’t work at all. Maybe talking was out.

It was a relief when Christopher had him stop outside a gated driveway. The road past the gate wasn’t lit, and had rows of overhanging trees lining the path. He obviously lived in a nice house. When he glanced over at Christopher he saw the lust in the man’s eyes again, and had to remember to breath.

“Look… I know what you’re thinking, and believe me when I say I’m very tempted, but we shouldn’t, Christopher. We only just met.” Martin said in a calm voice, which did not match his racing heart. “You’ve also had a lot to drink.”

As if to challenge that statement, Christopher unbuckled, jumped over and straddled his lap in lightning speed. “I’m not that drunk, and I want to do this.” He leaned down and captured his mouth. Martin’s resolve was fading fast, especially since Christopher was so very talented with his tongue. His mind wouldn’t stop travelling through other scenarios. Then Christopher ground his hips downward and he couldn’t hold back the groan that escaped his mouth.

Martin was officially over the edge. He scrabbled at the younger man’s green button down shirt, while Christopher took the cue, and started on his blue button down. Once the buttons were undone, he licked and nibbled one of the exposed nipple, drinking in the sound of Christopher’s moans. 

“Take off your pants.” Chris breathed, standing up and undoing his own. Martin obeyed, and then slouched back in the seat a bit. Christopher climbed back on top, grasping Martins erection in one hand, and the back on his neck in the other. As he pulled him in for a kiss, he slowly pumped his hand, making Martin moan.

-

Martin had magically produced a small bottle of lube from somewhere, and slicked up his fingers. Christopher tried to calm his racing heart at the sight. He had never done this before. He had only had sex with one other girl, and it was average to say the least. It was then he knew he was really gay.

His brother had been excited when he admitted it, since he himself was gay as well. But Christopher had never been with a man before. It had never felt right until now. He felt as though he had dug himself in to a hole, however. Christopher was taking charge, using his natural confidence to make it seem as though this was all normal to him… but it was actually pretty terrifying.

As Martin slid a finger in, he tried his best to relax. It was slightly painful, but also exciting. Just as he was getting used to the intrusion, another finger was added. Christopher must have been stroking erratically, as the fingers stopped moving and Martin looked up at him questioningly. He simply nodded, and pushed back against the fingers, causing Martin to gasp. As the fingers moved again, Christopher hid his face in the older man’s neck, kissing and nipping the sensitive skin. He refused to admit that he was a virgin when it came being with another man.

Finally a third was added, and Chris had to grit his teeth. He was thankful that Martin couldn’t see his face. How was this supposed to feel good? He wondered to himself. People did it all the time, it had to eventually feel good, right?

Maybe he wasn’t as good at hiding it as he thought, because Martin eventually asked: “Are you alright? You’re really tense. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“I want to do this, Martin.” He answered. The older man stared in to his eyes, as if searching him for the truth. Christopher really did want to do this. He had never been interested in having sex with anyone until now.

“Alright. Ready?” He asked, satisfied with whatever he saw. Christopher nodded, feeling the fingers pull out. Christopher couldn't hold back his sharp intake of breath as Martins head pushed inside. Martin murmured encouraging words in his ear, and continued to do so when he saw the effect his voice had on him. When he was fully sheathed, Martin remained still, allowing Christopher to adjust to the intrusion. His breathing ragged, trying his best to relax, he concentrated on the lovely things Martin was doing with his tongue and Christopher's ear.

Just as Christopher could no longer stand it, Martin sucked on his nipple, causing him to cry out and buck his hips. Martin hissed from the sensation, and slowly began to move, withdrawing slightly before sliding back inside. Most of the pain eventually eased away, replaced with pure ecstasy.

Now Christopher understood. He never wanted it to end. Martin adjusted his position, causing him to thrust against the sensitive spot, and Christopher cried out in pleasure. He started to rock along with him, meeting him halfway. Before long, he found he was unable to make coherent words, only sounds of ecstasy. Martin was also at the edge of completion, as he gripped the younger man’s hips and slammed him down harder. He plunged into Christopher with enthusiasm, reaching in between their sweat-covered bodies, grasping his leaking erection. Within only a few strokes, Christopher cried, bucking his hips, and then pouring his seed onto Martin’s hand. Martin squeezed his eyes shut, shuddering, his hips pressed hard against Christopher's arse as he spilt his own orgasm deep inside, letting out a deep, throaty sound as release overtook him.

-

Christopher leaned against Martin, as the two men attempted to catch their breath. Martin mentally sighed. The younger man had managed to scratch an itch he’d had for a while now. It was irresponsible to have sex with the younger, intoxicated man, but he had no regrets. It was worth it to see Christopher come undone like that. It had been beautiful. Martin had a suspicion that it was Christopher’s first time, but he wouldn’t bring it up, especially if the younger hadn’t wanted to admit it.

As he looked at Christopher, he could feel himself really becoming attached to the boy he had only just met a few hours ago. Martin refused to let this be a one night stand. He wanted to get to know the beautiful man on top of him. Maybe even have a repeat of tonight, many times. He grinned and pulled Christopher down for a kiss.

-

After the two of them and cleaned up and got redressed, Christopher found himself suddenly shy. He wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. He felt sore and tired, but overall completely happy. It was as though he had literally fucked his brains out.

“What made you choose environmental engineering?” Martin asked as he drove down the driveway, breaking the silence. Christopher thanked the gods that Martin had asked him an easy question.

“I always wanted to be an engineer, to follow in my brothers footsteps. I specialized in environment because I feel like I have natural talent when it comes to nature. Eventually I’ll go get my master’s degree as well.” He said with a small smile, thinking of all the crazy inventions his brother had shown him over the years. “My dream is to build a big structure, like a dam or something. Though, I suppose I’ll end up working on municipal drainages or something boring.”

“I’ve been pretty lucky in my career. I travel with a great research crew studying animals.” Martin smiled again, making Christopher melt. He thought Martin had to have the best smile he’d ever seen. “I’m sure you’ll do well in your career, you seem like you have a lot of drive and motivation. What does your brother do?”

They had just pulled out of the treeline and his brother’s mansion loomed in the darkness. He frowned when he realized his drunk brother hadn’t even left a light on for him.

“You live here?” Martin asked, obviously dismayed. Christopher rolled his eyes. His brothers oversized mansion was a little over the top, especially with the giant red V. Most people gawked when they found out where he lived.

“Yeah. It’s my brother’s place, though.” Christopher quickly explained. “It’s a little over the top.”

“Your brother is Zach Varmitech?” Martin questioned, his voice quiet but even. “I didn’t know he had a brother.”

“Do you know my brother? He’s never mentioned you.” Christopher cocked his head to the side. He could tell something was bothering Martin, but he wasn’t sure what. Was it that his family seemed rich? It wasn’t the case, if so. Zach had made his fortune from his inventions. It was his brother that had put him through university.

“I’m sorry, Christopher, I need to get going.” Martin replied, staring straight ahead. “It’s been a long night.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Christopher replied as he unbuckled himself for the second time that night. The memory made him smile. “Thanks for the drive… Maybe I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, maybe. Have a good night.” He replied coolly. Christopher frowned, but didn’t say anything. Instead he got out of the car and awkwardly stood on the road. Maybe he was just too drunk and reading into the situation too much. Martin gave him a terse nod and drove off.


	2. Chapter 2

Christopher didn't hear from Martin. It had been two weeks since their encounter, and now he felt foolish. What had he expected? The man was ‘esteemed’ for crying out loud. Why would he waste his time on him, when he could probably do so much better?

It still stung, especially since he felt as though they had really connected. Like Martin had been genuinely interested in him. Now he just felt used. A small voice inside his head reminded him that he himself was the one to initiate. It was his fault too. Maybe he wasn’t a good fuck, he thought miserably.

No, this was a life lesson learned. He wouldn't be so quick to believe or trust anyone anymore. He had been stupid to give himself completely so easily. It didn't help the hurt though. 

Life moved on regardless, and now he had been travelling with Zach now for a week. They found themselves in the arctic archipelago of northern Canada, specifically Baffin Island. It was a graduation gift to Christopher, since he had always expressed interest in seeing the Baffinland Iron Mine. He had been talking Zach’s ear off non-stop since they got there.

“It’s one of the most ambitious projects in any Arctic region, and it was expected to triple the territory's annual gross domestic product growth rate and provide nearly $5-billion in tax revenue and royalties to the territory over the life of the project!” He said excitedly as they flew towards the mine site.

“Uh huh.” Zach replied, bored.

“And the environmental impacts! They were going to build a railway, but because Baffin Island's soil is permafrost, the route was chosen so it lies on rock, gravel, or large-grained sand as much as possible. Fine-grained sand and clay soils pose more of a heaving problem when the surface layer annually thaws and freezes.” He motioned with his hands to describe the different terrains.

“Right…”

“But then they decided to abandon its original development strategy, where a railway would have transported ore to a new port on the south coast of Baffin Island in favour of having ultra-large dump trucks convey-“

“Alright, my dearest brother. I’ve heard enough.” Zach stopped him mid-sentence. “Believe me, its suuuuper interesting, but I’ve been listening to these ‘wow facts’ since we left. Can we take a break?”

“Alright. You’ll see how amazing it is when we get there anyways.” Christopher grinned. He was very thankful for this graduation gift since it helped take his mind off… other topics. He managed to hold off annoying his brother until they landed at the open pit mine. Then the facts poured out again, this time, a little less technical.

“It is said to be the world's sixth most northerly mine...” He leaned over and whispered as the two of them stood on a ledge, watching mine workers drill and blast the substrate. Zach fixed him with a glare, daring him to share another one.

“It first opened in 2014.” He added quickly with a smirk.

“I will leave you on this island.” His brother threatened. He turned back to intently watching the action of the mine. Christopher, meanwhile, huddled in to his green jacket, thankful he had the forethought to wear a scarf. On the island it was just above freezing even in late spring. It was no wonder the mines had to blast the ground, he doubted a machine would have an easy time digging through the permafrost.

“You know, Christopher, this is giving me an idea.” Zach turned to him, smile stretching across his face. “What if we started a mine?”

“What are you talking about?” He laughed, his breath making a little cloud in the cold air.

“You’ve always wanted to build something big, well here is your chance! And if this doesn’t float your boat, do it long enough to become rich, then you can build whatever you want, wherever you want. You could make a fortune, just like me. It would be easy!”   
Zach explained. “Did you know that the Canadian Shield has diamonds? People love diamonds.”

“Oh yeah? Too bad I know nothing about mining. I wouldn’t know where to start.” Christopher smiled at his brother. “I also don’t have the money to invest in a huge start-up.”

“You don’t need money, you just need cheap labour. Maybe even free labour!” His brother had a smirk on his face. “Why not get some animals to dig and hunt for the diamonds? You wouldn’t have to pay them, and there are endless options.”

“Animals? I don’t know Zach…” Christopher crossed his arms, frowning.

“Sure. We wouldn’t hurt them, I promise. We would just borrow them. Eventually we could set them free.” Zach prodded. “We could name the mine after us. Then when it’s successful, you can buy me out!”

“How would the animals dig? The ground is frozen?” Christopher pointed out. He doubted there was any animals with claws that could dig into permafrost and rock. If Martin were here he would… Nope. Christopher pushed the thought out of his mind before he could dwell on it.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Humans would obviously blast and drill… the animals would just do all the labour work!” Zach explained as though it was the most obvious answer. “They do this type of stuff in the wild already, why not let them do it and make a profit? It’s all natural.”

Christopher had always known his brother used animals in his inventions, and it was true that he had never seen those animals physically harmed. But he felt uneasy about it. His dream had always been to build something big, to impress his brother, whom he really looked up to. Maybe this would be a good chance to at least try it out. At the very least it would make Zach happy, even if it failed. Which it probably would since it didn’t sound like he had really thought it through.

“Okay… let’s give it a try.”

-

Martin had felt rather downcast since he had found out that Christopher was Zach’s brother. There was a chance that he wasn’t as awful as his brother, at least he seemed like a good kid from the short amount of time they were together. After all, could he have been so bad if he chose to go into the environmental field? Martin didn’t want to get involved with that family though, it would only bring headaches.

He still dreamed of that night though. Christopher had been so innocent and willing. It hadn’t seemed like he was inexperienced, even if he was. He had never seen anything or anyone that beautiful. He sighed, trying to push the thoughts out of his head. It wasn’t meant to be, so it wasn’t worth dwelling on it.

Today they found themselves in the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain. They were currently in the mountains studying the Pyrenean chamois, a small antelope that lived in the mountains. Martin had specifically chosen this creature so he could hike the area in his downtime. There were hundreds of lakes, waterfalls, and valleys of pine and fir forests, just begging to be explored. It was helping him take his mind off… other things.

Martin had been doing a lot of long, solo hikes in the evening, often not returning until after dark. It was reckless, but he had to find a way to shut his mind off. He felt guilty for what he had done and often laid awake at night thinking about it. He wasn’t the type of guy for one night stands. Christopher had really gotten under his skin, and he didn’t know how to shake his memory.

“Hey MK, is everything okay?” Aviva asked him one day. “You seem a little down lately.”

Martin thought about denying, or lying to her, but he figured it would eventually come out. Christopher had talked about travelling with his brother this summer, and knowing Zach, they were bound to meet at some point. It would be better to let the crew know now, before either of the Varmitech brothers could use it against him. He sighed and told her of the night with Christopher, leaving out the more explicit parts.

“The worst part is, I slept with Zach Varmitech’s brother, Aviva.” He sighed, burying his face in his hands.

“Maybe… But it sounded like you two really connected. You’re usually a good judge of character. Was he really that awful?” She leaned back in her chair, contemplating the new addition to their enemies.

“No, not at all. It sounds stupid, especially since we had only just met, but it felt so natural. Like we had known each other before this, like old friends. I thought that maybe someday he would want to try travelling with us.” Martin admitted, not removing his face from his hands. It had been a stupid, embarrassing thought. “He wants to be an environmental engineer, and might have enjoyed seeing the environmental side of his work.”

“It’s not stupid, Martin. Besides, it would have been nice to have another engineer on the team! I’m always so split between inventing and helping you on creature adventures, my work load continually piles up.” She smiled, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Maybe you should give him another chance.”

“Could he really be trusted though? Ahhh, it doesn’t matter anyways.” Martin stood up. “I’m going for a walk. Tonight is the last night to enjoy the mountains before we move on.”

-

Jimmy walked in the room, just as Martin was leaving. The crew hadn’t seen much of him the last week, and everyone was getting slightly concerned about his behaviour. 

“He’s off for a walk?” Jimmy asked, already knowing the answer. “Should he really be going out alone so close to sundown?”

“We should give him a break.” Aviva sighed. “His brother’s birthday is coming up next week. I know how badly he misses him, and how hard this time of year can be… especially when paired with other problems he has on his plate at the moment.”

“What kind of problems?” Jimmy started to ask, when an alert came over their radios. He and Aviva sat in front of the computer, reading the news bulletin. 

“You better go get Martin, he’s going to want to see this.” Aviva sighed.

Jimmy ran out of the control room and out in to the evening sun. Martin hadn’t left yet, and was currently tying the laces of his hiking boots on a nearby rock.

“Martin! There’s been an alert. It says there have been numerous reports of Badgers disappearing from all over the world.” Jimmy explained. “One of the reports mentioned a black jet…”

“Zach…” Just his name made Martin nervous. He prayed that Christopher had decided to stay home and start working on his master’s degree. He didn’t feel ready to face the man, especially now that he knew who he truly was. Zach might not have seemed like a good role model, but Christopher had seemed okay after living with his brother his whole life. Perhaps if Christopher was there, he would try to speak with him, one-on-one if he got the chance.

“Aviva and Koki are getting the Tortuga ready to head to the last known sighting. It was only reported a few hours ago.” Jimmy pointed his thumb behind him to the Tortuga. “You ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go save some animals.” He gave the younger man a small smile.

-

The last place the jet was sighted was in Russia, only a few hours ago. Their destination was a southern city called Astrakhan, which lies on two banks of the Volga River. The area was significant due to the distributional boundary between the ranges of European and Asian badgers, which was either side of the Volga River. The European species being situated on the western bank, and the Asian species on the other. It would be the perfect area to capture both species in one trip. Apparently the brothers had done their research. But why badgers?

They touched down briefly on the Eastern bank near a badger sett, or a den, but weren't able to find any of the Asian species. Zach had obviously already been here. A quick trip across the large river yielded them better results. After only a few passes, there, parked on a farmer’s field along the river bank, they spotted Zach's black jet, and further down the bank, a group of figures.

Not bothering to hide, they landed close to the figures. Martin was the first to jump out, dressed in his creature power suit, and jogged over to the group. Sure enough, there were the brothers, surrounded by Zachbots and a group of badgers with little helmets on their heads.

“Zach! What are you up to this time?” Martin yelled out. 

When Christopher noticed Martin, he looked shocked, but it was quickly replaced by a guilty look, and looked away. He knew what he and his brother were doing was wrong. Martin remembered him talking about looking up to Zach, so he had no doubt that he was doing this to make his brother happy. At least he hoped that was the case.

"Keep working on those helmets, Christopher. I’ll take care of these losers." Zach sneered, as he stepped in front of his brother. "Zachbots, get him!"

Martin stared at Christopher, feeling momentarily guilty that this was how they would meet again. As a Zachbot descended, he had to jump out of the way, sparing one more glance before he turned to focus on the battle. Aviva jumped out of the Tortuga as well, dressed in her purple creature power vest and ran to him. 

"MK! Catch!" She threw a power disc at him. It was his honey badger creature power. He immediately inserted it and touched one of the badgers, hoping the DNA was close enough to work with a European badger. 

He caught Christopher staring as he transformed in to a sleek blue honey badger. The younger man looked stunned by the transformation, and Martin found himself wanting to show off for him. A quick glance showed that Aviva had changed as well, and the two of them leapt forward. Martin tore the arms off one of the Zachbots while Aviva jumped along the tops of the robots, crushing the heads as she went.

Aviva then jumped off the last Zachbot and towards Zach. The inventor froze up, throwing his hands in front of his face and crying out. Martin knew Aviva wasn’t going to hurt Zach, she would probably just knock him down to scare him, but Christopher didn’t know that. He stood in alarm and swung the helmet in his hand at her. She was hit directly in the head and was flung to the side, her creature powers deactivating as she rolled to a stop.

“Aviva!” Martin yelled, running to her side. She was okay, just out cold. He glared over at Christopher who looked horrified at what he had done. He dropped the helmet and took a step back. It was then Martin realized he was growling at the brothers.

This was Zach’s fault. He had caused them to come here by stealing the badgers, and now he was influencing Cristopher be just like him, creating helmets and hurting Aviva. Martin knew he should blame Christopher, but the younger man’s reactions proved he hadn’t intended any of this to happen. Deep down inside he knew he was making a huge mistake thinking this way. He had a soft spot for Christopher, as he was obviously still attached to the man.

He was distracted from his thoughts as Zach burst in to laughter.

"Nice hit, Christopher!" Zach said, doubling over and putting his hands on his thighs. "I think it's time we get out of here, though. We have enough badgers to get started. Zachbots, guard us!”

Zach dragged his brother onto his floating platform ship, ready to escape, while the remaining Zachbots guarded their backs. Martin couldn't let them leave though, especially after the statement of 'we have enough badgers'. Whatever the plan for the badgers was, he had to free them. He zig-zagged through the robots and caught up to the brothers. Just as they were taking off, Martin jumped onto the ship, but it was moving too fast and he misjudged the distance. He ended up clasping on to the railing, causing the whole structure to tip from his weight. At the speed it was travelling, the whole thing lost control and rolled, causing both of the brothers to go flying off, while the ship itself slammed in to the rocky ground, exploding on impact. It was an unfortunate symptom of cheaply made mechanicals.

Martin's ears rang from the sound, and smoke covered the area. Thanks to his flexible mustelid body, he hadn't taken much damage from the crash. He pushed himself off the ground and ran towards the location where he saw the brother’s fall. A crouched figure appeared in the smoke up ahead, and as the air cleared he saw that it was Christopher, leaning over his brother’s prone body. Martin froze up. Had Zach been killed in the crash?

No. Zach was still alive, if his ragged breathing was anything to go by. His leg was bent at an awkward angle, and he had far more cuts and bruises then Christopher did. The younger brother heard him approach and glared over his shoulder. Martin’s heart stopped as he saw the anger etched into his features. It didn’t help that the younger man also had a rather bad cut on his forehead that was trickling down the side of his face. He looked almost unrecognizable.

Christopher stood up and took a threatening step towards Martin, who was still in his badger form. Would Christopher attack him, and would he have to fight back? Martin had to remind himself that Christopher was a Varmitech, and therefor unpredictable and cruel, just like Zach. There was no sign of the sweet man he had met a few weeks back, only barely contained rage. 

Martin actually found that he was slightly afraid of the man in the moment. He needed to get Aviva out of there and re-group. He deactivated and ran over to scoop her up. As he retreated, he spied over his shoulder in case of an unexpected attack. All he saw was Christopher, deflated, standing over Zach and pressing the heels on his hands against his forehead. Martin turned away, feeling guilty and like a failure for not saving the badgers.


	3. Chapter 3

Christopher was transfixed by the sight of Martin transforming in to an animal. He had never seen such incredible technology before, it was beautiful. Martin was beautiful. But this was the man who had used him and broken his heart. It was hard to remember that as he watched the blue badger leap through the air, using its powerful claws and jaw to rip apart his brother’s robots. Poor Zach would be fuming tonight.

It was then he realized the girl who was travelling with Martin had transformed as well, and a smaller purple badger was jumping along the robots, compacting the heads and effectively destroying them as she went. His brother might be stinking rich, but that didn’t mean he always used the best materials. Christopher turned to give him a sympathetic smile when he saw a flash of purple leap towards Zach. They were attacking them? Fear flooded his system, and without thinking, he swung at her as hard as he could, hitting her midair with a loud crunching noise. Her body flew sideways and crashed to the ground. She didn’t get up. 

Christopher couldn’t believe what he had done. He stared at his hand, still holding the helmet, before dropping it as if it were electrified. He had to do it, he rationalized; she would have hurt Zach. Martin, however, looked pissed and was growling at them. At him. A shiver of fear and excitement ran down his spine. His brother, however, howled with laughter, breaking whatever trance he had fallen in to.

"Nice hit, Christopher!" Zach said, laughing. "I think it's time we get out of here, though. We have enough badgers to get started."

They grasped hands and dragged themselves on to the floating podium. One look backwards showed Martin hot on their tails. Zach urged the ship as faster, but the blue badger leapt forward and clasped the side railing. The whole ship lost balance and everyone was flung off. 

Everything moved in slow motion as he fell through the air. The first thing that happened was the ship hitting the rocks and exploding, causing dust and debris to fly across the ground. Next he felt his brothers long arms wrap around him and pull him close, just before they hit the ground and rolled. Zach had protected him and took most of the damage. 

As the smoke cleared, Christopher scrambled out of Zach’s arms and looked over him. He was a mess. He had small cuts and scratches all over his body, and his leg was very obviously broken at the femur. He needed to get medical attention immediately or he could bleed out if the artery was nicked. Christopher felt a mix of panic and rage flow through his system. Zach wasn't doing well. This was Martins fault. Had he punished him for attacking the purple bitch? 

Christopher looked over and saw the blue badger hesitantly wandering over. He was surprised at the flow of dark thoughts that started to swirl in his mind. He wanted to wrap his hands around Martins neck and strangle him; make him pay for hurting his brother. Let him claw at his hands and arms in desperation. Another darker part of him wanted to tie the man down and make him pay for hurting him emotionally. Make him beg and plead and… Suddenly Martin deactivated and started to retreat. Christopher realized he had taken a few steps toward him. He was angry at the moment, but he knew later he’d be thankful for Martin running away. Christopher wanted to make him hurt, and would regret whatever he did in the heat of the moment.

As he watched the two escape, he wondered where these dark emotions were coming from, and why he had no control over them. He also wondered why he was feeling lonelier than he ever had in his whole life, in that moment.

-

A few days had passed, and Zach found himself laid out in his oversized bed, swathed in black silks, with his giant monstrosity of a cast laying outside the blanket. He didn’t remember much after he and Christopher tried to escape. After his brother filled him in, he pretended he was angry, but deep down inside he was pleased. Pleased that his brother had shown dark tendencies finally. Zach had been grooming him his whole life, and it was finally coming to fruition. 

First Christopher had agreed to use animals, which Zach had been most nervous about, especially since his brother had a soft spot for nature... He would have to continue trying to stomp it out of him. Then today, during his first ever meeting with the Wild Rats, he had knocked Aviva out, and then scared them off. It was perfect! Now he had to nurture this new flame in his brother. 

This was the perfect timing, too. Now that Zach was bed-ridden for the foreseeable future, it was the perfect chance for Christopher to step into his shoes. It would take some time and pressure to turn him ‘evil’, and this whole mining operation was the key. Zach knew the project was ridiculous and under-planned, but he had a short time to change Christopher, and he needed something to distract him. His biggest worry was that his brother would just return to school, and he would lose all his progress.

Zach was pulled from his thoughts from a gentle knock at his door.

“Hey Zach, how are you feeling?” Christopher walked in the room, carrying a tray of food. He looked like he hadn’t slept well in a few days. Perhaps he was feeling a little tormented? Now was the perfect opportunity to stoke that fire.

“I have robots to bring me stuff, Christopher. You don’t need to wait on me.” Zach huffed, crossing his arms. While he wouldn’t admit it, he enjoyed laying around all day while Christopher waited on him.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” He said as he placed the tray on the bedside table and sat down on the edge of the mattress. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

“No, thank you. How are you doing? I’m sorry you got caught in the crossfire. Those Wild Rats are radicals who will do whatever it takes to save the environment.” 

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Christopher sat down on the bed frowning, and grabbed his hand gently. 

“Christopher, they almost killed us.” He glared at his brother. Then, for dramatic effect, he moved his leg slightly and hissed in pain. Christopher flinched, and worried his bottom lip in his teeth. "They're a group that goes to the extreme, and they only care about the animals. Nothing else."

“About that… thank you for shielding me… I feel like because of that, you put yourself in danger and could have died.” Christopher looked away, but gently squeezed his brother’s hand.

“I would do anything for you, Christopher.” He pulled his brother in for a tight hug. Zach then trailed a few kisses along Christopher’s shoulder, and for once, the younger man didn’t stop him. It was a small victory for Zach. Aside from turning his brother, he also wanted to sleep with him. He'd had a crush on him for years now. Zach wouldn’t push his brother, though, these things took time. “Is anything else bothering you?”

“That man in blue… Martin Kratt. Is he the leader?” Christopher asked, his eyes darkening slightly. Zach, in turn, narrowed his. How did his brother know Blue Boy’s full name? The two of them _had_ stared at each other a lot during the interaction. Had they met before? He would have to tread lightly until he knew more.

“He is, and he is the one that has been harassing me for years. On numerous accounts, he’s broken in to my jet and stolen or destroyed property, and he’s even resorted to roughing me up if it suits him. You need to be wary of him, and don’t engage him at any costs.” Zach grabbed his shoulders and stared in to his eyes. “Do you understand? He is not to be trusted and you should stay away from him. He'll manipulate you to get his way.”

Christopher nodded, visibly bothered by the last statement. He seemed to stare off in to space, deep in thought. Zach knew he was exaggerating, or straight-up lying, but he had to make sure his enemies, were his brothers enemies. He finally took pity on him and decided to change the subject.

“Listen, I’ll be bed-ridden for a while now. I need you to take over for me while I’m away.” Zach dropped the bomb on him. Christopher’s head snapped up. The look of fear in his brother’s eyes made him oddly excited. Christopher hadn’t been expecting this, and wouldn’t be able to keep things running smoothly on his own, regardless of how hard he would try despite that fact. It was time to start exerting pressure on him. A little stress could make his brother more open to a different outlook. 

“Zach, I don’t know if I can.” Christopher said quietly, embarrassed to admit it. 

“Yes you can, I believe in you Christopher.” His brother’s face brightened with the praise. He was always so desperate for his approval. Zach felt he had done a good job making him dependant on him over years. “I hope I haven’t misplaced my trust. Do you think you can do this for me?”

“Yeah, Zach. Of course I will.” He gave him a gentle smile. “In the meantime, you heal. I’ll take care of everything.”

The two of them sat together in bed, snacking on the food Christopher brought. His younger brother laughed, reminding him about the time they stole the chocolate from the pantry, and when their parents questioned them about it, they lied, even though the evidence was all over their faces. Their mother had been so angry that they got chocolate all over their sheets, after eating it in bed. They were banned from eating food in bed, but they would always manage to sneak it in anyways.

“By the way, Happy Birthday. I’m sorry we couldn’t celebrate it better.” Zach frowned. "We'll have a celebration later, when things have cooled down."

“It’s okay, really. This is the first birthday in years that we’ve been together. It’s really nice.” He said, leaning against Zach’s shoulder, smiling.

Zach made his robots bring in a cake and then sang him an off key happy birthday. He then leaned forward and put a soft, lingering kiss on his brother’s forehead. Christopher smiled at him, a slight blush on his cheeks. After they were done eating, Christopher brushed the crumbs off the bed, and settled Zach back in. As he watched his brother leave, Zach grinned. The pieces were coming together very nicely.

-

Zach had hired a few sketchy henchmen to help work at the mine. They would be the blasters who broke up the substrate, and then the badgers would dig, sort and sift through the debris. Humans would be critical in certain mining processes, such as transport and processing the diamond ore, but Zach dreamed of having the bulk of the workforce made up of animals. He had grinned from ear to ear when Christopher suggested something to help move the ore out of the mine, like an ungulate of some type. And Christopher had felt oddly proud of himself.

Now that Zach was laid up in bed healing, the mine management and planning duties fell on his shoulders. So far, things were going slow, but well. It was short notice, but you'd be surprised what you can get accomplished with the right amount of money, and Zach had lots of it. Though they had only been digging now for two weeks, they had already found a good deposit of ore, the badgers were working hard, and there had been no sightings of the Wild Kratts. The only problem at the moment was how to transport the ore off the island. Their mine was technically illegal... they wouldn't be able to use the normal transportation routes. 

As he mulled over the different possibilities, Christopher surveyed the progress, watching the little badgers work. Zach was right to use these animals, they were hard workers and could work long hours. They grated in his nerves though, as each one reminded him of a blue badger that was ruining his life. He knew he was being dramatic, but to be used and then rejected by someone, who then injures your brother, putting you in a position you struggle to manage... Christopher had embarked on a huge project with Zach and now he was gone. The stress from keeping things running kept him up at night. He had to make sure it was successful. He couldn't let Zach down. 

In his frustration, he kicked one of the badgers, feeling a weird sense of satisfaction as he watched it tumble and roll. As it came to a stop, the helmet beeped and the badger got up, forced to continue its job. Christopher only felt a little guilty as he watched it hobble away. He decided right then and there that his most hated animal was the badger.

That night while he sat on the floor next to Zach’s bed, going through a pile of paperwork, Zach announced that he had already found a buyer for the diamonds. She was a fashion designer, and was looking to make an entire line of clothing encrusted with diamonds. 

"She is going to pay big money, Christopher. She'll also be partnering with Varmitech Industries, which will help other sectors of my company flourish. We'll need to expand the mine as soon as possible."

"Expand? But we've only been open for two weeks!" Christopher sighed, running a hand over his face. He was already dealing with designing the open-pit mine, supervising the construction of mine structures, planning the transportation of ore to processing plants, monitoring the production, supervising both the animal and human teams, and preparing reports. That was only the tip of the iceberg. It was too much for one person to do, and in such a short period of time. He wasn't even the right type of engineer for the position, if he was being honest. He wasn't sure how long he could keep it up and it had only been a couple weeks. “We’re doing fine at this pace, Zach. I think we should stay on course until we’ve gotten our footing.”

"It's fine. Just get more animals." Zach waved him and his suggestion off. Christopher felt a spike of annoyance, but pushed it down. Between the two of them, Zach was the one with more business experience. 

"About the animals..." he started, finally feeling guilty about the badger from earlier. His emotions were a little lagged lately. 

"I know what you're going to say, and I think you're being illogical, Christopher. These animals don't care, they aren't suffering and you get to build a structure you've always dreamed of. These creatures are beneath us, understand?” Zach explained to him, running his hand through Christopher's hair. “Listen, you're just tired and emotional. I know you've been under a lot of stress lately. Let me make the big decisions, okay? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do, Zach." Christopher closed his eyes and sighed, leaning in to the touch. "I'll go gather them first thing in the morning."

"You should get going now. Thanks to the Wild Rats, there is no one to run the mine while you're gone." Zach said, frowning. "This is all their fault."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll nap on the way." Chris pushed his exhausted body off the floor. 

"Oh, and Christopher? Choose a new animal. They're probably watching the badger population."

Christopher carried his paperwork with him, heading for the jet. He was annoyed at his brother for pushing everything along so quickly, but he buried it down inside. It wasn’t worth fighting over. Instead he would focus on his work. If he was lucky, he’d be able to finish a report or two and maybe get some sleep tonight.

-

Martin Kratt had been watching for any sign of the Varmitech brothers, but there hadn’t been any. It had been weeks now, and the guilt of abandoning the badgers was really weighing on him. He had fought with himself for a long time over it, but eventually tried calling the number Christopher had given him all those weeks ago, only to find that it had been disconnected. He had let out a sigh of relief, having been dreading the awkward conversation that would have ensued.

He had been feeling guilty towards the brothers, as well. He hadn’t intended to injure Zach, he was only desperate to stop them. From what he had seen, Zach had suffered a broken leg, which would probably keep him out of trouble for a while. It was Christopher he was worried about. Would he take over for his brother while he was down and out? He was so loyal to him. It made Martin almost jealous. If his brother had still been alive today, he liked to think the two of them would have been very close.

It landed him back at square one though. Now it was just a waiting game, hoping to hear any news. It was a quiet month, too, not that he should be complaining. No other animal related alerts had surfaced, except for Gourmand attempting to poach Bluefin tuna. It had been dealt with by the coast guard before they could immobilize, thankfully. 

He wasn't sure weather he was relieved or not, when eventually the peace came to an end. One late afternoon he got a phone call from John, an Alaskan game warden. “You need to come down, as soon as possible. We’ve got a poacher in the area.”


	4. Chapter 4

Christopher barely slept the whole ride. He was physically and mentally exhausted, but stress kept him awake. He was struggling to keep everything together, he hadn’t realized he wasn’t keeping himself together. He had already lost some weight from not eating properly, and he was exhausted from working at all hours of the day. Zach had also been very demanding lately, especially when a deadline or quota wasn’t met. It was a constant reminder of his failures.

Surely these animals would help the mine run more efficiently, right? But what animal should he pick? With his limited knowledge of animals, he had simply used google to decide. Christopher settled on bears or weasels as the next best digging animals. Luckily, both animals were found in Canada and the United States so he wouldn't have to be gone for long. He chose Alaska, as it had the highest density of bears in the area, according to Wikipedia. The state was huge though, he thought in dismay. Where would he find bears on such a large land mass? As they approached the area, Christopher scoured the internet looking for clues on how to find bears. Luckily, bear watching seemed to be a big tourist attraction in Alaska.

Once he found a good clearing in a recommended bear spotting location, he just had to bait and wait. The internet had really paid off, it turned out, as he didn’t have to wait long for his first bear to appear. It was a massive creature, with beautiful blond fur. Christopher hesitated only for a moment before sending a Zachbot to jump out and attach a helmet. It got easier after that. Each time a bear appeared, he would promptly send a robot out to slam a helmet on the unsuspecting creatures. Unfortunately, the Zachbots weren’t good at doing tasks without direction, so Christopher leaned against one of the bears and did his best to not fall asleep while he gave directions.

By morning he had accrued 20 brown bears, and a couple of smaller black bears. He knew it was probably enough, but he wanted to bring some extra back to help lighten the workload. If he could get more workers, he wouldn’t have to take on as much of the workload on to his plate. He laughed, trying to picture a bear draw out a mechanical diagram of a hydraulic winch. Okay, maybe he would still have to keep most of the work to himself.

By now he was almost deliriously tired, barely able to keep his eyes open. He could come back another day. As he directed the Zachbots to herd the group of bears in to the jet, he heard a grunt behind him. Before he could turn around, something large and sharp raked across his back, and he was thrown to the ground. Christopher scrambled to get up when he realized it has a large male grizzly bear. Blood trickled down his back as he turned to face the bear.

He didn’t know much about bears, only that you should make yourself bigger… no, wait, that was mountain lions. The grizzly didn’t give him enough time to think, as it reared up and tackled him to the ground, pinning him down with its crushing weight. His next thought was to play dead, but the bear bit down on to his shoulder and he cried out. The sound must have spooked the bear, because it released him before biting down again on his upper arm. Laying on his back, he was able to kick and punch, but it was pointless. The massive brown bear swiped at his face, letting out a loud growl. Christopher ducked, but only barely. He could feel claws rake across the side of his face, shredding the skin. 

The grizzly bit down on his shoulder again, teeth grinding against bone, and attempted to drag him into the underbrush. Christopher was going to die here, and his brother’s stupid robots were not going to help him, no matter how loud he called for them. His good hand clawed at the bear’s face, while the other one tried, and failed, to grasp on to roots and rocks below. 

The sound of a loud explosion cut through the clearing. It was the distinct sound of a shotgun going off, and dimly wondered where the Zachbots had managed to get a gun.

The bear dropped him, and huffed, getting ready to charge whoever held the gun. The shotgun fired again, this time hitting the bear. While it was distracted, Christopher pitifully dragged himself away. Halfway across the clearing a Zachbot finally grabbed him, and dragged him towards the jet.

With blood oozing down in front of his eyes, he could hear someone yelling after him, but he couldn’t see who. It didn’t matter, he had to get out of here. The Zachbots got him on board, and the jet’s autopilot took it from there. He slumped on the floor of the hanger, slowly bleeding out. He had no energy to move, but knew if he didn’t get help he was going to die. Christopher tried in vain to sit up, but couldn’t get his exhausted body to comply. Instead, darkness gathered around his vision, and he fell asleep.

-

As soon as Martin arrived in Alaska, John brought him to a clearing that looked like there had been a lot of activity. He could smell the tell-tale musk of beaver oil, which was probably the bait used to lure the bears into the area. There was also an underlying metallic scent, which meant blood had been spilt. 

"So what happened exactly?" Martin asked, walking around, surveying the scene. The surrounding forest had lots of berry bushes and sedge grasses. It was the perfect place to find bears, especially during mating season. Martin wondered if they had chosen this area based on that fact, or if it was just dumb luck. 

"Well, I had seen a huge black jet flying over the peninsula and then land somewhere in the forest. It took some time trying to track it down, but when I did there was a man getting attacked by a big male grizzly. It’s mating season after all, so the bears are extra aggressive during this time, as you know. The man didn't look so good by the time I got there." John explained, pointing with his hands as he described the events. "I managed to scare the bear off using rubber bullets, and that was when I realized that somehow he was controlling other bears and had already loaded them on to the jet. He escaped before I could stop him."

Martin walked around the perimeter of the area, using his small amount of ranging skills to picture what had happened. He could see where the jet had been parked, because the soil was compressed from the weight and the imprints were still visible. The grass was stomped down and the soil kicked up through the whole clearing. It wasn't until he found the dried blood that he stopped. There was a lot of it too. The bites and scratches were either numerous, or very deep. It looked as though the bear had tried to drag him off too, judging by the smear leading off a short ways. 

He had to assume it was Christopher, as Zach was probably still recuperating from his injuries still. When John described the man as brown haired, tanned skin, he knew for sure. What on earth was Christopher doing poaching grizzlies, especially this time of year? And what had happened to the badgers that he needed bears?

"There is one more thing. One of the bears he poached had a tracking collar for spatial analysis research. We should be able to track its progress."

"John, that's the best news I've heard in a while.” Martin said truthfully. Now they would be able to figure out where the brothers had been hiding the last few weeks, and hopefully discover the fate of the badgers in the process.

As John led him back to the ranger station, he couldn’t help but think about Christopher. What was going through his head? Had Zach managed to manipulate him so badly, that he was willing to do such illegal and immoral things? The main thing that weighed on his mind, and he was embarrassed to admit to himself, was not the animals fate, but of Christopher’s. After an attack like that, most people went to the hospital. He somehow doubted that the younger man would, since it could possibly get reported to authorities. Either way, he knew Christopher had to be in big trouble if he didn’t get help.

-

Christopher opened his eyes to find Martin kneeling on the floor, cradling him to his chest. Blood had soaked in to his black jacket as well as both of their pants and shoes. Christopher was confused why he wasn't wearing his trademark blue, but was more alarmed at how much blood there was to worry about it. Martin was a comforting presence, and when he realized Christopher was awake, he held him tighter, whispering soothing things in to his ear. Christopher tilted his head up to speak, but Martin leaned down and captured his mouth with his own. The kiss wasn't they way he remembered it, but he reciprocated eagerly regardless. Things got blurry and he blacked out again.

When Christopher woke up again, he found himself in his bed, clothes changed and wounds bandaged. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes, but he blinked them away. It was all a dream, he told himself. At least he had survived, he reminded himself. Unfortunately he found himself lightheaded and weak, probably from the blood loss, but also incredibly sore. Just turning his head to look at his brother, sitting at his bedside, was painful.

“Christopher, I’m so glad you’re awake!” Zach cried. “I thought you were dead when I found you in the jet, face down in a pool of your own blood. What happened?”

“A bear… It attacked me…” He rasped. He gently reached up to touch his face where the bear had raked its nails, but lifting his arm proved to be too painful. There was an ugly, dark bruise around the bite wounds.

“I figured as much. I meant how could you let a bear get that close to you? I thought you were smarter than that.” Zach shook his head. "It doesn’t matter, either way it looks like you've really screwed up this time. The bears were a good call, but didn't you notice anything suspicious?" 

Christopher struggled to think. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but he still felt exhausted. His brain was sluggish and didn't understand what Zach was talking about, much less remember anything in vivid detail.

"There was a GPS tracking collar on one of the females! I have no doubt that the Wild Rats will find us now." Zach clenched his hands. "How could you make such a stupid mistake?"

"Shit. Zach, I'm so sorry." Christopher struggled to push himself into a sitting position. The scratches on his back had been stitched, and pulled at the skin around them. He clenched his eyes and sighed. "What can I do?"

"You can get out there and work on security. We can use the bears you brought back." Christopher stared at his brother, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. When Zach didn’t back down, he clenched his hands in the blankets.

"But we were going to use them in the mine." He said, trying to keep his voice even, feeling his temper rising. He had gone through all the pain and effort to catch the stupid animals and now they were being reassigned? He already knew what Zach was going to say. He’d have to go out and get more.

"You'll have to go get something else. This is your fault after all, and you’re going to have to fix it." Zach sat on the edge of his brother’s bed. "The whole operation could fail; all our hard work down the drain. You don't want that, do you?"

"No, no you're right." His anger was doused immediately. Zach was right, this was his fault, and it only made sense to come up with a plan for when the Wild Kratts did come. Christopher groaned as slid his legs off the bed.

"You're okay to go now?" Zach questioned him, looking almost hopeful. "Or is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Christopher, deep down inside, knew he wasn't okay to go. His whole body ached from the attack yesterday, and he was so exhausted. He knew that this was his fault though. He'd have to fix it. Suddenly he felt bad for being angry at Zach, when he could plainly see the concern in his eyes. Zach seemed to be asking him a loaded question but he was too tired to think about it. This roller coaster of emotions he was unwillingly riding was exhausting.

"Yeah, I’ll be okay.” He gritted his teeth as he stood, trying not to show any sign of suffering to Zach.

“Meanwhile, I’ll be meeting with Paisley Paver. She’s been contracted to build a road system so we can transport our ore to a processing plant.” Christopher must have had a surprised look on his face, because his brother sneered and added: “I was tired of waiting around for you to find a solution, so I made one of my own. If you want to run this mine, you’re going to have to take more initiative.” 

As he watched his brother leave, with the assistance of his Zachbots, he felt resentful. Zach had been upset, although he supposed he deserved it. The whole situation was ridiculous. Never would he have pictured himself with these problems. The animals he captured to work at a mine, are being tracked by some environmentalists. For the first time in a long time, he found himself asking why he agreed to any of this. School was starting soon… he could be working toward his master’s degree, but instead he was in Northern Canada, dealing with such bizarre situations on a daily basis.

Christopher stood in front of his mirror and stared at the broken man looking back at him. There were two horizontal scratches running from his forehead, past his eye and toward the ear. There was the beginnings of a black eye forming as well. He pulled the bandages off to see deep gashes, stitched closed, along his shoulder and arm where the bear had bitten him. Christopher closed his eyes and braced the sink, flinching when skin pulled around his wounds. He didn't even bother to look at the scratches across his back. 

He was out of his element, that was for sure. Even though this was all new to him, he figured he should be able to do some bits and pieces properly. Instead, he was beginning to feel like a failure at everything. First, his brother gets injured protecting him, then he struggles to keep the mine working, and finally, and most embarrassingly, he gets mauled by a bear and leads his enemies right to them. He could really use a win right now, and he wasn’t going to let the pain get in his way.

After a very agonising struggle to get dressed, Christopher dragged himself out to the mine site. Little badgers were running around working, and a couple of the blasters walked by, staring at him like they would a freak show exhibit. He didn’t blame them though, he probably looked like walking death.

He found the bears were lined up, ready to be programmed. Just the sight of them caused his heart to beat faster and his palms to sweat. He shook his head at how ridiculous he was being, but it got worse the closer he got to them. When one grunted, he stumbled backwards, breathing rapidly. 

He had to get a hold of himself. Christopher let out a shaky sigh and ran his hands down his face. Every time he looked at the bears he got flashbacks of the attack. With trembling hands, he reached forward and clasped the first bear’s helmet. 

Focusing on the electronics helped, and not the beast underneath. He programmed the bears to act as security guards, to maul strangers on sight. For a moment he felt worried about what would happen if Martin did find this place. Would the bears ensure he would suffer the same fate as he had? Or worse? He supposed that if Martin came for him, it wouldn't be pretty anyways. If he was willing to break Zach's leg over a couple badgers, what would he do to him for poaching bears and forcing them and the badgers to work for him? Perhaps this was for the best. 

The bears started on their instructions immediately and started to move. Christopher yelped and fell backwards, shuffling away. He took in lungful’s of air, hiding his face in his arms. He felt weak and he was ashamed of it. He looked up, only to see one of the bears still standing in place. Its helmet must have been malfunctioning. 

He was mad that the sight of a bear could reduce him to a terrified mess. It was a stupid animal after all, and he was above them, just as Zach said. They were the ones in control now.

Christopher stood up, ignoring the pain screaming through his wounds, and approached the bear, anger replacing fear. He grabbed it roughly, fisting his hand in the fur and jerking its head sideways so he could fix the helmet. He had no reason to be afraid now. This was where animals should be, used and controlled, he thought darkly to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

When the Tortuga had tracked the bears to Northern Canada, they didn’t know what to expect. They wondered what use bears, and possibly badgers, would have on an arctic island. Didn’t they know there were already polar bears here? 

Martin and Aviva looked over the edge and discovered a massive scar in the land. On closer inspection, it appeared to be the beginnings of a mine. Aviva gasped and passed him the binoculars. With them, he could see the badgers dispersed in the area, sifting through and moving the rubble. Martin clenched his teeth when he saw how malnourished they were. 

Closer to them was a line made up of the bears that had been poached the night before, each of them with controlling helmets. They weren’t moving though, just standing in place.

“Do you think we should sneak down and rescue them? I brought the brown bear power disks.” Aviva spoke quietly to him. Martin was hesitant to rush in, especially when he saw shady henchmen interspersed throughout the mine. That was a new one, Zach using humans in his plans. They didn’t look to be controlled though. At least they hadn’t crossed that line.

“Believe me, I’d love to free them, but this place is crawling with enemies. I’d hate a repeat of last time.” He replied, still staring though the binoculars. That was when he saw someone leave one of the buildings off-site. The person stumbled and limped the whole walk over to the bears. It was like a punch to the gut when he realized who he was staring at.

Christopher looked like death. His pallor was grey, causing the injuries to the side of his face to standout. He had only just survived an attack yesterday, what on earth was he doing up and about? Martin gripped the binoculars so tight he thought he would break them. They were close enough that their voices might carry down in to the valley, so they crouched low and watched Christopher. 

“Do you see the way he’s hesitating? He’s obviously afraid of the bears.” Aviva whispered. Martin didn’t blame him after a traumatic event. They watched him program the bears and then panic when they started to move. It was a sad sight watching him cower. Martin wished he could have taught the younger man all about bears. Maybe he wouldn’t have gotten mauled. Or felt disposed to capture them.

Then something happened. Like his entire attitude changed, Chris stood up and marched toward one of the remaining bears. Aviva gasped as Christopher wrenched the bear’s head to the side. He manhandled the poor grizzly while he adjusted the helmet’s settings. When it was fixed, the bear wandered off, ready to do whatever bidding had been programmed into the helmet. Christopher stood there fuming, staring after the bear. 

“What’s the plan?” She asked him again. Martin didn’t know what to do. He was stunned by what he had just watched. Christopher was acting bi-polar and unpredictable. “Martin?”

“The animals need to be freed… that is our first priority.” He said as he sat back. “With the bears dispersed, we can take them on one-on-one. For the badgers, we can blend in with them, freeing them one at a time.”

“It sounds dangerous, but what choice do we have? I’ll let Jimmy and Koki know to expect the freed animals. We can’t leave them here.” Aviva sat up to pull out her creature pod, but immediately froze. Martin whipped around to see what she was looking at and came face-to-face with one of the bears. It was sniffing them, as though trying to identify them.

“Move Aviva, they’re programmed to be guards! They knew we would come!” Martin yelled as he yanked her up. The bear let out a growl and took an advancing step. Would this bear respond like a normal bear would? Either way, they wouldn’t be able to stand against a full-grown grizzly. He slid the brown bear disk in to his vest, just as the grizzly reared and tackled him to the ground. 

With a flash of blue light, he transformed in to a large blue bear and threw the real bear off of him. They both stood on their hind legs, the real bear lunging forward to bite his neck. As its jaws wrapped around his collar, he used his strong claws to pry off the helmet from its head.

Immediately the bear released him, panicked, and scampered off. Martin deactivated and grabbed his neck. Thanks to the thick skin of the bear, the teeth hadn’t broken skin, but it was going to leave a bruise.

“Martin! It’s Christopher!” She said, pointing down the hill. He whipped his head around to lock eyes with Christopher, who still stood at the bottom where the bears had stood. He looked livid. He grabbed a radio and spoke in to it, but they were too far away to hear what he said. Martin didn’t need to hear to know that the bears were coming. 

“You need to run, Aviva!” He gave her a shove in the direction of the Tortuga.

“What about you? I’m not leaving you behind!” She cried, grabbing his arm.

“I can’t abandon the animals again. I’ll hide; blend in with the badgers and collect more information.” He said switching disks. “I’ll be okay, I promise! Now go!”

She hesitated for a moment, but eventually gave him a nod before she transformed in to a falcon and flew off. Martin looked back at Christopher, but he was gone. In the distance he could see bears starting to converge on his location. He jumped down the hill, sliding in the snow and shale. Once he was at the bottom, he kept running until he reached the mine. Once he spotted a badger, he leapt forward, like a baseball player sliding home, hand outstretched. Before he could touch the badger, a bear side-line tackled him with the force of a freight train, throwing him in to the rubble. 

-

Christopher stormed the halls of the office complex, with no real destination in mind. How dare the Wild Kratts show their face, and at his mine? No matter, the bears would take care of them. He might be an environmental engineer, but he was great with programming electronics. They wouldn’t escape. 

He was surprised to see someone standing in the boardroom, as he passed by. She was a short, blond haired woman, wearing a grey business suit. As he walked past the glass windows, her grey eyes, framed with black glasses, watched him. She irritated him.  
“Who the hell are you?” He growled, stopping at the open door. She simply laughed in his face, which made him angrier.

“If this is the type of partnership I can expect from Varmitech Industries, perhaps I should take my business somewhere else.” She grinned, not at all offended, as her words portrayed her to be. 

Of course, this had to be Paisley Paver. Zach was supposed to be meeting with her. Christopher sighed, he really needed to calm down, but he had felt so agitated after seeing Martin. Speaking of his brother, he should tell him about the Wild Kratts being on site. 

“I’m sorry, there is just a lot going on right now.” He entered the room and held out a hand. She shook it, looking from his eyes, to the claw marks on his face. Christopher was sure Zach had kept him out of the meeting because he probably looked unstable. Who would want to partner with someone who had gory wounds, was outwardly irritable, and didn’t look like they slept in a year? Regardless, she gave him a huge, toothy smile.

“Zach told me his brother was nothing but a big kitten, and it looks like he was right. Are you really one of the owners of this operation? Excuse me for saying, but you seem like a bit of a pushover… perhaps a little, or a lot, in over your head?” Her grey eyes stared in to his, as though trying to read his thoughts. She was painfully observant, but it didn’t mean her opinions were true, Christopher thought angrily. 

“Excuse me, but who the fuck do you think you are, coming in here and assuming that I can’t do my job? I am the sole manager of this mine at the moment. It wouldn’t be running without me, understand? You don’t know me, or what I am capable of.” He yelled, walking towards her, unconsciously backing her into the wall. 

It wasn’t until she laughed that he realized she had been egging him on. “Good. I had hoped that your brother was wrong about you. I see I don’t have to worry about my investment in the mine with you as a partner.” 

What had Zach said to her to make her think he was such a useless pushover? Certainly she must have misheard him. Zach would never say something like that… 

After a moment, he realized he was still pinning her against the wall, and stepped back a bit. He ran a hand through his hair, before remembering the scratch marks, which reminded him of all his other body pain. The anger and adrenaline left him exhausted and sore.

“You do look like shit though. Go rest and get your act together.” Paisley dismissed him as she gathered her things. “You brother and I have come to an agreement, and I’ll be starting work tomorrow. I’d love it if you could come watch us break ground.”

“Yeah, sure.” He said, not even able to get a rise out of himself for her comments. He was too damn tired. He slumped in a chair and watched her leave, realizing she had purposely stayed behind to harass him. Had all her comments been a lie? If Zach was saying anything behind his back, it was because he was disappointed in him. 

As much as he desired to crawl in to bed, he dragged himself out of the chair and out to the mine site. Perhaps the bears had made themselves useful while he was gone.

-

Martin woke up; arms tied behind his back, and locked in a small jail cell. The area was empty, not even a guard in sight. He was especially relieved to see that there was no sign of Zach anywhere. His head throbbed, and he had to blink a few times to clear his vision. The last thing he remembered was being thrown into a pile of rocks by one of the bears. He gave himself a panicked look over his body to see if he had been mauled, but there was nothing out of place, aside from some bruising. He sighed in relief. That was a win, at least. 

He hoped Aviva had made it back to the Tortuga alright. He hadn’t seen Christopher after the bears started to attack, so there was a good chance she had gotten away. When he didn’t return they would come help him. Perhaps they already were, he wasn’t sure how long he had been out. He looked around for a clock or a window to guess the time, and was startled to find he wasn’t alone.

Speak of the devil, the younger Varmitech stood at the bars, staring down at him. Martin had no idea how long he had been there, but his approach had been silent. Face-to-face now, he could see the full extent of the damage the bear had caused, and it wasn’t pretty. The claw marks on his face were still fresh, with the skin around them black and blue from bruising. Who knew what other injuries the bear had given him, as he wore a green fleece jacket with the collar zipped all the way. They had to be extensive if he had such a fear and hatred for the animals. Perhaps this was karma. Christopher generally didn’t look good though, as though he was under a lot of stress and wasn’t taking care of himself.

As for his personality, it seemed to have cooled considerably since they last saw each other. He had a cool aura of detachment around him that suggested this whole scenario didn’t bother him. And maybe it didn’t. He now knew that Christopher had officially took over the company while Zach healed, and whatever his brother was forcing him to do, it was obviously corroding away his morality. The starry-eyed graduate, who had a keen interest in the environment, was slowly dying, being replaced by Zach 2.0. It was breaking Martin’s heart, but also lighting a fire inside him.

“So what’s the plan? Keep me prisoner, while you continue destroying the environment and harming animals, all at your brothers command?” Martin spat, unable to keep the anger out of his tone. Christopher stared down at him in contemplation. He looked exhausted and in a lot of pain, although he was doing his best to hide it. The younger man walked over and unlocked the cell, stepping inside. Fear and excitement threaded through Martin.

“Why didn’t you call me?” He quietly asked, his face betraying no emotion. Martin was surprised at the unexpected question. He knew the right answer was not the truth, but what else could he say? “Or was everything you said a lie? Zach warned me that you’re a liar and manipulator… that you’d use me if I gave you the chance. I waited and waited for you. But I guess you knew my brother… You assumed we were the same person.”

“Aren’t you?” Martin threw back at him. “You’re currently running a mine in a protected area, using animals against their wills, kidnapping and locking innocent people up… it seems very Zach-like to me.”

“You know nothing about me!” Christopher snarled, pulling him up and slamming him against the wall. Just as sudden as it happened, it was as though he remembered himself and immediately released him. Christopher took a step back and composed himself. “You know nothing about me.” He quietly repeated.

“I know that you’re intelligent enough to be top of your class in engineering, and you cared enough about the environment to specialize in it. You have to see what you’re doing is wrong!” Martin pleaded with him. “Christopher, I… care about you, and this isn’t you.”

“This isn’t me?” The younger man laughed pathetically. “You barely know me! Maybe this is me.”

He took a few steps closer to the older man, backing him up against the wall again. Martin couldn’t explain it, but the feeling of excitement continued to thread through him. It was the wrong time to be feeling this way, but he couldn’t help it.

“My brother has opened my eyes. I can do whatever I want. I can get whatever I want.” He proved by reaching forward, putting a hand behind Martins head and pulling him in for a rough kiss. It was desperate and rough, as though he wanted to punish Martin through it. As he pulled back, the two of them were panting. “And right now I want you. I won’t let you run away from me again.”

Martin gasped as Christopher’s hand reached down to cup his groin. He was already hard, and the moan that escaped the younger man at the discovery was so delicious. Christopher reached down and unbuckled his shorts, letting them drop and pool at his ankles. His movements were quick and fluid, and soon enough Martin was completely naked from the waist down. 

Before he could really process what was happening, Christopher had knelt down and swallowed him whole. He leaned against the wall, trying his best not to buck his hips. Martin felt like he was on a roller coaster, unsure of if Christopher wanted him dead, or not. This was certainly not the outcome he was expecting.

Christopher snaked both his hands around, one grasping his ass, the other intertwined with his own hand. It was this small act of intimacy that convinced Martin the sweet Christopher he had met months ago was still somewhere deep down inside. He relaxed against the wall. As Martin savoured the feeling of Christopher’s hot mouth wrapped around his member, he couldn’t help but think about how skilled he was at it. When they had first met, he was positive that the younger man had been a virgin, but this? Had he been with someone else? He had to push down his jealousy at the thought of him with anyone else. There were so many things he wanted to show and do to him.

Christopher had untied his hands at some point, so he reached forward to place one hand on his shoulder and the other behind his head. When the younger man flinched at the shoulder contact, he knew there had to be a hidden injury there. Instead he clawed at the wall behind him.

“Oh fuck, Christopher!” He cried as he came. The younger man swallowed every last bit and then rocked back on to his heels. Martin looked down at him and found him staring off into space, probably in deep thought… Hopefully not regretting his actions, although Martin knew better. Christopher obviously still cared about him, and seemed conflicted. It seemed as through the younger man was walking a very fine line at the moment. If Martin could just talk to him, convince him to stop, maybe it would actually get through to him. 

“Hey…” He tilted the young man’s chin up so he could make eye contact, but Christopher wouldn’t. Instead he stood up and turned away, and Martin quickly dressed, following him to the door.

“Go back to your turtle and your friends. Leave this island and please don’t come back.” He said quietly as he walked away.

“Christopher? We should talk-“ Martin started before Christopher turned around and glared at him. There was the anger on his face again, making him look completely different than he had a moment ago. He was retreating back in to himself, and it was giving Martin whiplash. 

“Just go.” He said, walking out of sight, leaving the cell door open.


	6. Chapter 6

Oh God, What had he just done? What was he thinking? Why had he done it? The crushing loneliness Christopher felt was getting to him, making him desperate. No, not desperate. It was something he had been repressing since day one. He realized he was in love with his enemy, and he couldn’t stop the feelings. He hated himself for being so weak. For the first time in his life, he wished he wasn’t related to Zach. 

Zach, who was nothing but a loving brother and had paid and supported his way through university. Who had taught him how to make money from practically nothing. Who loved him for who he was, on all levels… Martin didn’t love him, there was no way he felt the same way. All he could do was find faults in everything he did. He hurt his brother and used him… even if this time was his fault for giving in to weakness. He wiped away the tears that had started to fall. Martin was manipulating him, and he had fallen for it again.

Christopher decided right then and there that enough was enough. He had to close himself off, no more feelings and emotions. It was time to get over Martin and start embracing his life choices. The mining was going well, he would have to start looking at ways to further expand. None of the animals were being hurt, so he had no reason to feel guilty. Most of all, he already had someone in his life who loved him. Maybe it was time to stop looking at Zach as his brother, and maybe as more of a candidate. He was painfully aroused from his session with Martin. Should he go see his brother? Maybe this would be the first step in leaving his old self behind, to just give in to what his brother had wanted almost their whole lives. Deep down inside, he knew he shouldn’t be making rash decisions while he was so emotional, but he pushed it away as he walked to find Zach.

-

Christopher opened his brother’s door and stepped inside. Zach was currently sleeping; a robotics science magazine open across his chest. He started to not feel right about this, but he was desperate to stop feeling so lonely and empty. He pulled the blankets back and crawled in next to him. Zach looked peaceful. His raven black hair was slightly messy, which was a rare sight. It made him look slightly vulnerable. As Christopher reached forward and cupped his brother’s face, he looked at the stark difference in skin tone. Zach had creamy, soft skin, while his was a natural tan, much like Martins.

He frowned, trying to get Martin out of his mind. Leaning forward, he placed his lips softly on Zach’s. The older man slowly woke up and without missing a beat, snaked his hands around him and pulled him close. As a tongue pressed its way in to his mouth, Chris knew he was trapped and there would be no turning back now. This was good, no way to chicken out. No words were spoken between the two of them, as Zach made his way beneath him while the two of them explored each other’s mouths. The kiss felt familiar in some way.

Christopher knew this was wrong, it felt completely wrong. He should stop, but he couldn’t. Zach loved him and would never leave him. Instead of pulling back he kept pushing. It was as though he was trying to punish himself. He didn’t want this, but he forced himself to continue. No one else cared about him, he was all alone. Soon his clothes were off, and so were Zach’s. It was getting heated; he felt hands caressing his back, mindful of the wounds, reaching lower and lower. Zach gripped his ass and grinded his hips against his, causing Christopher to gasp at the friction. 

Zach pushed himself up, putting them into a sitting position, so they were facing each other with Christopher on top. Then he grabbed both erections and started pumping them at the same time. Christopher moaned, wrapping his arms around his brother’s shoulders and closing his eyes. Zach grabbed his face, forcing him to make eye contact, and then forced his tongue back in his mouth. As Zach started to get more forceful, suddenly Christopher’s fire went completely out. He wanted to stop, he had gone far enough. He didn’t know what he was trying to prove to himself, but he had made a terrible mistake and it had gone too far. 

As though realizing Christopher was ready to stop, Zach pushed him further. He grabbed some lube from the side table, and wrapping his hand around, slid a finger inside. Christopher pushed back against his brother’s chest, but Zach held him tight, sliding another finger in.

“No Zach, we have to stop.” He cried, but Zach wouldn’t stop. “Stop, Zach!”

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment.” Zach moaned, adding a third finger. Chris cried out, tense and unprepared. “I’ve done so much for you, Christopher. Just let me have this. You owe me.”

Yes… Zach had done so much for him his whole life, it was true. If he lost his brother he had no one else. Christopher couldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t be alone. Christopher accepted that he had no choice but to comply and keep his brother happy. He did owe it to him. He hesitantly nodded, holding back the tears.

“Don’t be sad, little brother. You were the one who initiated. You want this, you know you do.” Zach cooed as he removed his fingers and laid back. “Now, you’ll have to be on top, because of my leg.”

Christopher hesitantly climbed on top, trying to turn his brain off. He just wouldn’t think about it. He wouldn’t think about Martin either. He would just get it over with. A sharp pain that seared along his nerves ripped him from his thoughts and thrust him back into the reality of what was being done to him. Zach had grabbed his hips and entered him in a single harsh stroke, and didn’t give him time to adjust before moving again. It hurt so much that he was incapable of biting back a cry against it. Zach matched his cry of pain, with a cry of pleasure. 

“Oh Christopher, you feel amazing!” He praised, all while Christopher clenched his eyes against the tears threatening to flow. He kept moving though, his hands fisted in the sheets, biting his lip. Somehow he felt like he deserved this. Eventually the pain ebbed, it wasn’t pleasurable, but he would be able to manage. Zach grabbed his hips and thrust him down, bringing unbidden memories of Martin doing the same thing to him. He shook his head to clear the thought, but it wouldn’t leave. He remembered their sweaty bodies, the flushed skin, and Martin worshipping him. Martin lying to him.

It wasn’t until his brother finished, that the tears started to fall. Zach pulled him down to lay with him as the little spoon and nestled his head into his neck.

“Oh Christopher, you were amazing. I know I was a little excited, but you aren’t hurt are you?” He spoke in to his ear, running his tongue along the lobe. “I knew you wanted this, ever since you kissed me in the jet. We can try again in the morning. We’ll keep trying until you see how good it can be.”

So it hadn’t been a dream, but it also hadn’t been Martin. Fresh tears rolled down his face, soaking in to the pillows. Somehow it made him feel heartbroken.

Once Zach fell back asleep, Christopher hobbled to the bathroom and took a long, hot shower. He let the sound of the water drown out his sobs, as he repeatedly asked himself what the fuck was wrong with him.

-

The next day at the mine, Christopher was repairing a broken helmet while he reviewed the budget for the bridge, when the door to his office opened. It was his brother, being carried in by his Zachbots. 

“Good morning Christopher. I didn’t think you’d be up and out to work so quickly this morning.” He questioned as they got closer.

Christopher couldn’t get out of the place quickly enough. Last night had been a huge mistake, and he found himself reevaluating his life choices... again, in less than the time span of 24 hours. Maybe it was time to walk away from everything and go back to school for his master’s degree. He was hesitant to leave Zach though. Last night had been an accident, and Christopher was the only person to blame. He initiated it in the middle of a dark, though completely accurate, thought process. His brother didn’t deserve to be treated that way. Zach loved him.

“I’m sorry. I got a message that some of the helmets were malfunctioning. Paisley says they’re starting on the bridge crossing the Gulf of Boothia, as well. I wanted to speak with her before they broke ground, so to speak.” Christopher explained, playing it cool. “Hmm, I see.” Zach said, standing over him at the table. Christopher refused to squirm, regardless of how uncomfortable he was. He could tell Zach was angry about something, and he was pretty sure it was about sneaking out this morning. “I had a lot of free time this morning, so I thought I’d review some of the ships logs. Keep up to date on any maintenance required, inventory any supplies, you know, the usual. You wouldn’t believe how surprised I was to discover a log stating that there was a prisoner aboard!”

Christopher’s heart dropped. 

“I had to access the surveillance cameras to see for myself… but there was no one there! So I rewound the footage and you’ll never guess what I saw.” He explained calmly, placing a tablet on the table. Christopher knew what would be on it and refused to look. Instead, staring at the helmet on the table. “Look at the fucking tablet! Look at yourself submitting to our enemy like a goddamn whore! It’s disgusting!”

Christopher flinched at his brother as he screamed at him. He gave in and looked at the video playing, and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of Martins face. It was flushed, his lips were slightly parted as he panted, but he was staring down at his past self with a look of adoration. It stunned him. Christopher probably didn’t look as abashed as he should have and Zach screamed in frustration, bringing his fist down on the tablet, smashing the screen to pieces.

“You loved it, didn’t you? You love being a little slut and taking it wherever you can, huh? That’s why immediately after this you came to me and I fucked your brains out. You brought me nothing but sloppy seconds.” Zach shook with anger. “You fucked my worst enemy! Well guess what, now you get to live the rest of your miserable life without me. Go run to your new fuck-buddy because you and I are done.”

“Zach, no! No! Please don’t leave me! It was a mistake!” He cried, grasping on to his older brothers sweater. “You’re my brother, you can’t leave me!”

“No, I’m not your brother. Unlike you, I would never resort to incest.” Zach growled, ripping his hands off his shirt. “Good bye, Chris.”

Christopher found himself sobbing for the second time in the last 24 hours. He screamed and threw things around, but nothing made him feel better. When he was finally all cried out, he sat in the corner of his destroyed office, utterly alone, letting the feeling of numbness creep in.

-

Zach was fuming, but that didn’t excuse him from almost revealing his dark secret. Thankfully Chris was too distraught to notice. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He needed Chris to finally break, and even though this wasn’t the way he wanted it to happen, it looked like it would work out in his favour. In the last few months, he’d isolated Christopher so that he was the only one in his life. Then he slowly poisoned his thoughts and morals by whispering in his ear. Finally, he worked him hard to wear down his spirits. Christopher would have to submit if he wanted to please his brother. The most important person in his life. He was willing to let him fuck him last night even though he didn’t want to and it caused him pain. It was a sign that he was close to his breaking point. It was beautiful, and he had been beautiful, Zach thought as he smiled to himself, the anger finally bleeding out of his system. 

Now he needed to throw one more major curveball his brother’s way to really push him over the edge, and he had a horrible and perfect solution.


	7. Chapter 7

Martin didn’t leave the mine. Instead he had transformed into a badger and worked his way through the population, freeing one at a time. He knew he was taking a huge risk staying, but he felt like if he got caught again, he had a pretty good chance of talking Christopher out of it. The man looked like he was walking a fine line, ready to crack at any moment. It would all depend on which way he was pushed.

It was then he came across a dead badger, who had obviously been worked to death. Was Martin being an idiot? He was constantly defending Christopher, but what if the man really was a monster? That he had been fooled during their first meeting? He wanted to hate the man as much as he hated Zach, but he kept giving him the benefit of the doubt. Something about Christopher really resonated with him.

He pulled the helmet off the badger and brought it to the edge of the mine. When they were done here they would return its body to its home land. It had not deserved to die, and it certainly did not deserve to stay here.

Up there on the top of the ridge, Martin surveyed the mine and sighed. It was larger than he thought, and the Varmitech brothers had amassed more badgers than he originally estimated. It didn’t help that he had to do this as secretive as possible. It was slowing him down.

“Martin, how’s it going?” Aviva checked in. He had called the crew earlier in the evening to let them know he was safe, and his plans to free the badgers. Most of details of what had happened after she returned to the Tortuga were left out. If Aviva noticed him omitting truths, she didn’t say anything. Afterwards, he had spent most of the frosty night pulling helmets.

“There are so many, Aviva. I had no idea.” He sat down to catch his breath, exhausted from working all night. “Not all of them are alive either.”

“Well, the ones you have freed have made it to the Tortuga. We’ve got at least fifty.” Her voice got distant as she turned to look behind her. Martin could see the control room of the Tortuga over-run with badgers. He hoped they were all behaving… The last thing they needed was a badger brawl in the middle of HQ.

“Fifty? I feel like that has barely made a dent in the animals.” How long had the brothers spent catching them? He pushed the thought away, not wanting to dwell on it.

“Want me to come out and help?” She offered. “Koki and Jimmy will hold down the fort here.”

“Yeah, sure, Aviva. I’d love the help.” He smiled. He had thought he could do it himself, but it would go faster with two of them. “Make sure you stay hidden though.”

She wouldn’t have too hard a time, though. Martin hadn't seen any sign of the brothers all morning. There was a pretty good chance Aviva would only have to dodge the bears, which were also seemingly keeping their distance. He found himself disappointed that he was the only one out here, and found himself constantly looking over his shoulder for a flash of green. He wondered if Christopher locked himself away, dwelling on last night and tormented by his actions. Martin wished there were some way to make the younger man understand. Make him see how awful his brother was, and how he was being manipulated by him.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he spied movement in the distance. Martin crouched low into the rocks as he saw the aforementioned older brother leave the office complex. Zach seemed giddy about something and was ordering his Zachbots around. Then he pulled out a big remote control and pressed a button.

Immediately the badgers around him dropped. Had Zach turned the controls off? Why weren’t they getting up? He padded over to the nearest one and pulled off its helmet. It was dead.

No... It couldn't be. He stared around at all the unmoving bodies. There were so many of them he didn’t get a chance to rescue. Zach was still fiddling with the remote, and that's when Martin realized the bears were still alive and moving. They were about to be next. The inventor pressed the button and Martin could do nothing as he watched the large mammals drop like sacks of rice.

"NO!" He ran over to the nearest bear to check, but was grasped by the neck, mid-stride by a metallic claw. A Zachbot had spotted him and was bringing him to its master. He scrabbled at the metal arms and tried to bite down, but it was no use. The robot had reached Zach and held him straight out in front.

"Ugh, Blue Boy. Why does it not surprise me that you're still lurking around?" Zach sneered. “As you can see, I’m a little busy at the moment.”

"Zach! How could you kill them!? They were innocent!" He struggled against the pincer. Zach took a moment to look around at the mine, which had come to a complete stand-still with the absence of animal labour.

"Oh, I know. They were good workers. Unfortunately, I had to teach my dear brother a lesson." He waved his hand, dismissing his concerns.

"What are you talking about?" Martin stopped struggling immediately. Zach had ‘killed’ the mine operations to teach Christopher a lesson?

"He needs to learn not to sleep with the enemy." Zach snarled at him, obviously disgusted. Martin fidgeted, feeling incredibly awkward at the moment. The inventor quickly composed himself. "It's alright, I'll forgive you this one time. This was just the thing to make him really snap, so really I should be thanking you."

"You’re punishing him for his own choices, and trying to push him in to a breakdown! You just want to control him! I knew you had to be poisoning him somehow. What did you do to him? He's your brother for god’s sake!"

"He’s not really my brother, you know. Besides, all I've done is push him in the right direction; he’s simply following in my footsteps." Zach shrugged, motioning for the Zachbots to follow him. “I’m hoping it will be quite the show as he falls, so to speak. He’ll want to win me back. I’m all he has, afterall.”

Martin was so angry he couldn’t speak. Zach was a psychopath, and it looked like he was conditioning Christopher to be the same. These poor animals had been caught up in fray and had to pay the price. For the first time in a long time, Martin didn’t know what to do.

"I can see you’re angry… and not just about the animals. You really like him, don't you?" Zach asked, after a few moments of silence. When Martin didn’t say anything, his slight blush was answer enough. "Listen, Wild Rat. You and him were never meant to be, understand? He's mine and I don't share!" Zach snarled.

“Then I pity Christopher.” Martin spat, as they made it to the hanger doors of the black jet.

“Don’t bother. He’ll come to me eventually and together he and I will accomplish whatever we want. With him at my side, we’ll be unstoppable. Unfortunately, I won’t have you get in his way and try to stop his breakdown, so you’ll be coming with me. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. We can watch him grow in to his darker side.” He laughed as he walked ahead into the ship. Martin struggled to no avail.

As the Zachbot made its way up the ramp, Martin spied a purple falcon, perched on a nearby ledge. If she tried to intervene, she would most likely be captured as well. He caught her eye and gave her a quick shake of his head. Thankfully, she stayed put. He would have to think his way out of the situation and maybe from the inside was the best option.

-

Christopher had finally snapped. He felt nothing but an aching numbness inside. Completely hollow. If it were up to him, he would just stay there forever. Where did he need to go, or what did he need to do anymore? A small, pitiful part of him wondered if Zach had stayed behind for him… He stood from his spot on the floor and mindlessly walked outside. The mine was quiet. There was no activity and no movement. Then he noticed all the dead animals littering the area.

Zach had killed the animals. Christopher tried to feel sad or guilty, but came up empty handed. He had officially failed to keep the mine running and had driven his brother out of his life. He was so alone. Zach had abandoned him and ruined their hard work... All because of Martin. Martin was using him to get to his brother. Knew he needed to separate them to make them weaker. It was the only explanation.

He hadn't liked the feeling of numbness that had pulled him under, so when he felt a spark of anger, he latched on to it. It seemed like it was the only emotion he could feel at the moment, and it flared through him like a wildfire.

Christopher knew his brother had done this as a form of punishment for his weak moment with Martin. Zach was trying to prove that he needed him, that he was useless and couldn't do this on his own... But his brother was wrong. He could do whatever he damn well pleased, and excel at it. He didn't need anyone's help or permission. Another life lesson was learned this day, that he had to bury all emotions and weaknesses if he was going to succeed and prove Zach wrong.

It was time to start planning. As far as he was concerned, the mine was a write-off. Unfortunately, Paisley had already started the road in. Regardless of his first impression of her, he liked her. She was smart and spoke her mind, which was refreshing. She had also stated that she felt safe in her investment with him at the helm. He couldn't let her down.

Jesus, he really had a pleasing people complex. It probably stemmed from his parents always comparing him to Zach growing up because he was adopted. His brother unintentionally did the same thing, constantly making him try to live up to his standards. Christopher was going to show them that they were wrong.

He decided there that he wouldn't abandon Baffin Island. This was going to be the start of his empire. There were enough resources to get him started again. As he started mapping out his plans in his head, something yellow caught his eye. It was a girl… Martin’s friend. What on earth was she doing here? And where was Martin? As soon as she saw him, she froze.

"This mine has a real issue with security." He mumbled quietly, almost shaking with anger. If the bears were still alive, he would have had her mauled, he thought to himself. Christopher had to give her credit though, as she timidly approached him. She was brave. He did his best to push his rage down to a gentle simmer, and found the numbness slowly crept back in in its place.

"Who are you?" He asked when she was close enough. She wore a purple vest over her yellow sweater, which made him mildly nervous. He knew what she could do with it.

"My name is Aviva, I'm a member of the Wild Kratts and I need help. I know your brother sees us as enemies, but surely you'll help? You and Martin... know each other." She hesitated, possibly realizing what a stupid plan this had been. Aviva was obviously desperate enough to approach him. Could the team not function properly without Martin? It was pathetic.

And now Martin had been taken by his brother. A day ago, Christopher might have cared, but now? Martin was an idiot for staying behind, especially when he warned him to leave. Zach probably thought he was causing him further pain by taking the biologist, but Christopher only felt a small pang of worry somewhere outside the wall he had built in his mind. He had to remind himself that Martin was underhanded.

He could use the situation to his advantage though. Christopher put on a worried face, and tried to seem unthreatening. "Yes, I remember you... I'm so sorry about hitting you. I panicked when you attacked my brother."

"It’s… okay. I’m okay. Martin told me that you looked like you had regretted your actions. You were trying to protect your brother.” She hesitantly accepted his apology. “But you have to see how awful he is. What he’s done, and made you do, is horrible. Now he has Martin and we don't know where they're going."

"Yes, my brother is a psychopath, and when he found out about Martin and I... he just lost it." He said, assuming she already knew about the two of them. It wasn’t as though he was lying. She gave him a sympathetic smile, relieved that he was cooperating, and he knew he had her. With a hitch in his voice, he continued. "He… He killed all the animals. Zach kept trying to convince me that they should be used, but I kept fighting him. So he killed them… My brother's trying to punish me, and now that the animals are gone… I'm worried for Martin."

"Do you know where they might have gone?" She asked, causing a momentary flash of anguish through him. He had no clue where his brother would have gone. He was all alone. Christopher pushed the sad emotion away. This wasn’t the time. He never wanted to feel sad again.

"Yeah, I do. Unfortunately, I'm a little stranded at the moment." He pretended to look around, defeated. Christopher wasn’t lying. At the moment he had no resources. All he needed to do was to get aboard the turtle ship, and he could change that.

“We could give you a lift. I’m sure Martin would appreciate the help and wouldn’t mind.” She offered.

“Are you sure? Zach is my brother after all… it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been judged for being a Varmitech.” Christopher asked, realizing how truthful his question was. His breathing hitched as an old ache opened in his chest. Aviva must have noticed his distress, because she placed her hand on his arm and smiled.

“Yeah, it’s alright. We both care about Martin, right?” He nodded, unsure if he was still lying to her or not. He took a deep breath and smiled. This was going so well. She pulled out a small handheld device and spoke in to it, asking for the ‘Tortuga’ to come get them. While they waited, Aviva tried to awkwardly start a conversation.

“So Martin tells me you’re an environmental engineer…”

“Yeah. I always felt a pull towards nature. I had hoped to build something big someday.” He said wistfully. Then he remembered who he was talking to. “It’s how my brother twisted my arm in to this venture.”

“You know, Martin said he would have liked to have you travel with us. You know, see the world and experience nature with a professional.” She said casually, watching his reaction. “I thought it would be nice to have another engineer aboard. We get a lot of grant money to do some really cool stuff.”

Martin wanted him to travel with them? It had to be a lie…

“He felt guilty about not calling you.” She admitted, as if desperate to bring him over to their side. The worst part was for a minute, he really wanted to. He had to push his emotions out. First he had none, and now there were too many trying to assault him at once. These were all lies. Zach told him Martin was a manipulator. Why wouldn’t the rest of his team be the same way? Inside he was angry, but on the outside, he smiled and shook his head.

“I appreciate your words, but I think I’ll return to school after all this. I’d like to get my master’s degree and just have a normal life.” He watched as the turtle ship appeared on the horizon. “It’s probably for the best if Martin and I go our separate ways.”

Aviva nodded solemnly. It was suspicious that she didn’t press his decision. Maybe she was just thankful that he would be out of the picture.

Christopher had to keep his jaw from dropping as he stepped on to the turtle. The technology was amazing. This was how she and Martin lived?

He was immediately introduced to the rest of the crew. First was Koki, who was a mechanical engineer and communications specialist. She didn't seem liked she trusted him, but that didn't matter. He would give her a reason not to like him. There was also a red-headed pilot by the name of Jimmy, who didn't really fit into the picture properly. Two engineers, a biologist and a… burnout? A high school drop-out? Maybe he was someone’s younger brother?

There was no time to waste worrying about the crew. He had plans he needed to set in to motion.

"Zach will eventually cool down and come back to the island. He does this all the time. It's the first time he's taken a hostage on his temper tantrum though..." Christopher chewed on his nail nervously. If he was being honest, he had a feeling that Zach was still lingering around, waiting to see what he would do. He vowed to give his brother a good show, maybe even do better than he could. "He'll be close. The northern part of the island is where he sulked last time."

“North it is then. Anywhere in particular?” Jimmy smiled. He seemed very easy going, and quick to trust. Two crewmembers out of three was pretty good, he thought to himself.

“Borden Peninsula, in the Sirmilik National Park. If he isn’t there, I have a few other ideas of where he may be hiding, but this will be our best starting point, though.”

As Jimmy ran off to move pilot the ship, Christopher looked around the main control room. Koki watched him suspiciously, but he didn’t pay her any attention. Instead, he was drawn towards a vest hanging near the back of the room. It was similar to the power suits that Martin and Aviva wore.

“This is my greatest invention.” Aviva said as she walked up behind him.

“It’s incredible. When I first saw you both transform… I was stunned.” He spoke truthfully. Christopher didn’t know power like this existed. It was as though the suit itself was magic. “Does it hurt to transform in to animals?”

“No, it’s completely painless. The sensation is a little weird when you first try it.” She smiled to herself, as though remembering a funny memory. “You can transform in to anything, really. Even a pinecone! Talk about a weird sensation! You just need a creature power disk and a sample of the animals DNA. This was Martin’s old suit.”

Christopher couldn’t stop himself from smiling. If the state of the Createrra had been anything to go by, Martin was most definitely too rough with equipment, and the vest was no exception. It looked thoroughly roughed up. The thought of the Createrra flooded him with anger though, helping him clear his mind, and the smile slid from his face. He eyed the materials around the vest. There were various tools, some tufts of fur, and some miscellaneous disks with animal pictures on them.

“Would you like to try it?” Aviva asked with a huge smile on her face.

“Do you really think that’s such a good idea, Aviva? He is Zachs brother…” Koki stepped in. She made him angry for judging him before she knew him... even if she was correct to not trust him. Zach had really done a good job instilling hate in them over the years.

“I trust him. He’s going to help us get Martin back… maybe he can use a creature power to help him!” She frowned at Koki. Then, defiantly, she handed over the beat up vest to Christopher. Koki was right to not trust him. These girls were idiots for handing over their greatest weapon. He could hear them arguing in the background, something about how this will change his mind, but he tuned them out. He slid it over his jacket and felt slightly overwhelmed, knowing how close he was, in a way, to Martin at that moment.

“It has the grey wolf disk inside right now. Just touch this tuft of fur and try it out!” Aviva said as she turned away from a very annoyed Koki. He tentatively reached for the tuft of fur in her hand. Christopher wouldn’t admit it, but he was nervous. He reminded himself that once he turned in to a grey wolf, he would maul the whole team, and that made him feel a bit better.

As he grabbed the fur, he could feel the vest activate. His entire musculature and bone structure was changing. It was the most extraordinary, exhilarating feeling in the world. But when it was over, he found himself staring at the girl’s feet. In fact, the whole ship looked gigantic. His heart was racing and panic threaded through his veins. What was happening? This wasn't a timber wolf... They had lied to him.

“Aye, I’m so sorry Christopher, but we had to do this.” Aviva picked him up by his tail. “You can't be trusted... Please don’t be mad that we tricked you.”

“You were too easy to manipulate, Zach junior.” Koki laughed as she handed Aviva a cage. “Did you really think we would hand over a creature power suit so easily? You trust too easily. Now you get to experience what it’s like to be your brother; I hope you enjoy being a rat.”

“You only have to stay like this until we find your brother, okay? We’re going to trade you for Martin…” Aviva said sadly, as she dropped him in. He tried to bite her as she removed her hand, but she was too quick. She stared at him with giant sad eyes, and whispered: “I only hope that you and Martin can forgive us someday.”


	8. Chapter 8

Martin had been unceremoniously thrown into a holding cell located in the control room of Zach’s black jet. The two of them had been hovering in the sky for some time now, hidden by the cloud cloaking device, waiting for Christopher to make a move. At first, Martin had yelled and threatened Zach, but it had proved to be a fruitless effort. Instead, he sat back and studied his surroundings. If he was going to escape, he’d need to know as many details as possible.

The cell itself didn’t have much to it, just bars with metal walls and flooring. The bars themselves didn’t reach the roof, so perhaps he would be able to climb them. Martin wasn’t the best climber unfortunately. There was no furniture of any time in the cell either, so he hoped he wouldn’t have to be spending a lot of time in here. Sleeping on the cold metal floor wasn’t very appealing.

As for the rest of the room, it was dark, lit only by the computer screens that Zach currently sat in front of. He was watching them almost obsessively while he waited for his brother to make a move. Now would be the best time to try to escape, since the inventor was currently distracted. Only, Martin didn’t have an escape plan yet. He tended to be more of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy.

He still wore his creature power suit, but only had badger power. Maybe he could try squeezing through the bars? He tried to do the mental math, but was distracted by Zach.

“Finally! I was starting to think he’d given up!” Zach huffed. He rolled slightly to the side to allow Martin a good view of the screens. It was almost a thoughtful gesture, except he knew it was Zach’s way of torturing him.

On the screens, he watched as Christopher staggered out of the office complex. If Zach was expecting his brother to despair over the loss of the animals, he would be disappointed. Instead, the younger man looked rather hollowed out. It looked as though he had finally fallen off the line he was walking, but which side he had fallen was still to be determined. Martin wasn’t optimistic though.

Aviva eventually made her presence known, and Martin felt anxiety grip his stomach. She could be in a lot of danger if she wasn’t careful. For all he knew, Christopher was unhinged now. The two men watched as the brunette and Aviva spoke. Christopher’s reaction went from cold and suspicious to warm and friendly instantly. The easy smile he wore was so reminiscent of the first time they met; Martin couldn't stop the small gasp.

"Oh yes, it's a surprise to me too, Blueboy. Who knew Christopher was so good at deceiving!" Zach laughed as they watched his brother charm Aviva. "Do you think he really cared about you? Perhaps it was all a lie."

Martin ignored Zach and turned away. Seeing Chris being so devious made him question his feelings towards the younger man. He kept holding faith that the Christopher he had met all those months ago was still under all the dark thoughts and emotions Zach had been instilling in him. What if it got to the point of no return for Christopher? Zach could easily push him over the edge at any moment. Maybe he was already there.

“Come on, Wild Rat, can’t stomach it? You’re missing some good stuff over here. I never thought he would blossom in to such a good bad guy so quickly or effectively.” Zach swooned. It made Martin sick. He couldn’t stop himself from watching though.

By now, Christopher had managed to find his way on to the Tortuga, which pleased Zach to no end. Was this how Christopher planned to win his brother back? Take down their enemy from within?

The young man genuinely looked stunned at the technology as he entered the turtle ship. Martin felt a small jolt of pride for his team and the Tortuga. They had state of the art equipment and an incredible team. He wished he could have been there to show Christopher around. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea to let him see life on the other side. It might make him doubt his life choices with Zach.

Then Christopher had seen the power suit. Like a moth to a flame, he walked right up to it. Martin couldn't believe how quickly Aviva was willing to hand over her greatest invention. The look on Christopher's face was worth it though. A faint blush appeared on his face as he pulled the vest on. Seeing something of his own on the younger man made him feel good. The vest looked natural on him.

Unfortunately, his team did the worst thing they could have done in such a delicate situation; they tricked him in to becoming a rat and caged him. Martin doubted Christopher would ever trust anyone again. He felt like any work he had put in to the man, trying to convince him to come to their side, was instantly lost.

He was mad at his team, but he was especially mad at Christopher. Since he had met the younger man, his life had descended into madness. Now the crew was about to experience the wrath of the younger Varmitech brother, and Martin wouldn’t be there to stop it. They thought they had tricked an innocent man, but really, they had trapped a snake. As soon as the opportunity arose, Christopher would strike back hard and they wouldn’t see it coming.

“They want a trade?” Zach scoffed. It seemed like he was on the same train of thought. Christopher wouldn’t take it lying down. “Your crew certainly underestimate my brother and I to think we would just give up that easy.”

When his statement was met with silence, the inventor turned around. Zach could sense Martin’s anger at the whole situation and decided to poke the bear.

"Well, Christopher certainly knows how to get under your skin, huh? I don’t blame you; ever since we fucked he’s all I can think about." Zach licked his lips and gave him a huge smirk.

"You two... slept together?" He knew he was playing right in to Zach's hands, but he couldn't stop himself.

"Oh sure, he even initiated it." Zach got a faraway look in his eyes as if remembering the event. "The look on his face and the sounds he made were unforgettable… But I suppose you know exactly what I’m talking about."

The worst part was that he had to agree with Zach. Christopher had been a beautiful sight. He longed to repeat the night; to be able to worship the younger man’s body again. It didn’t make any sense though. How could Christopher have slept with such a slimy jerk like Zach? “But he's your brother!" Martin cried.

"We're not related by blood, he's adopted." Zach drew his eyebrows together. Martin knew they couldn’t actually be brothers; they looked nothing alike. It still didn’t explain why Christopher would stoop so low. Zach stood up and walked to the bars. He seemed to be fighting with something internally. "He's the one with the taboo fetish."

"What do you mean?" Martin asked, unsure where Zach was going with this. The inventor seemed to be weighing his words carefully. After more internal deliberation, it seemed like he had reached a decision. He let out a sigh and gave a rueful smile.

"Look, Blue Boy, things have reached a climax. Christopher has embraced becoming a bad person, and together, he and I will do great, evil things. The only thing really stopping him is you. I'm afraid that I can't let you do that." Zach reached over to a table nearby and picked up a sharp compressor blade from a pile of scrap, probably used for his inventions. Martin backed up. Zach had never threatened his life like this before. "However, before you die, I would really like to see you suffer."

"Zach... you can't do this! You'd really kill me, just to keep me away from your brother?" He backed up to the wall behind him, putting his hands up in front.

"No, I'd kill you to keep you away from your brother." He said, without any trace of humour.

Martin didn't understand what Zach meant. His brother had gone missing and assumed dead years ago. Surely it was a coincidence that his name had also been Chris. With brown hair. Roughly the same age as Christopher...

"My brother is dead..." he mumbled pathetically. Maybe Zach was just trying to rub it in his face that he didn’t have a brother anymore.

"Did you ever see a body? Take a good look at him and tell me the two of you don't look similar. You're both such narcissists that you would be drawn to each other." Zach replied as he crossed his arms. “I honestly wondered if the two of you would figure it out the instant you saw each other. I guess I didn’t need to worry. I should have brought him out and started his training way earlier.”

When the two of them had met, a strange feeling had passed over him, as if the two of them had met before. Like seeing an old friend you hadn’t seen in a long time. Everything seemed to come together. They did look similar, and the fact that Christopher would be the same age as Chris…. In addition, his name. It was too much to be a coincidence.

Martin let out a sob of grief. Christopher was Chris... how could he not have realized? He had felt so familiar when they met because they were actually brothers. Somehow, he had ended up with the Varmitechs and was being corrupted by them. All those years of believing he was dead, and the whole time he probably lived in the same country, maybe even the same state. All those wasted years.

Oh God, they had slept together too, and it was the best sex he had ever had... No. Martin refused to think about their twisted relationship. But he couldn't ignore his real feelings for... his brother. He wouldn’t let it bother him. He loved him and wanted to be there for him. What would Christopher say when he found out? If he found out? Zach checked the edge of the blade with his thumb as he watched Martin come to the realization.

Martin couldn't die now that he knew the truth. He couldn't abandon Christopher to this psychopath. He would never abandon Christopher again.

Suddenly aloud crashing sound came from the screens. Zach looked over at them and then back again, with a huge grin on his face.

"I love him, do you understand? I won't let you take him away from me." Zach explained calmly. He gently picked at his nails with the blade, eyeing Martin. “However, I have one more thing to show you before you die. I want you to really see what a shitty brother you are, as you fail Christopher one more time.”

-

Christopher felt stupid, and he didn’t like feeling this way. He knew better than to trust them, but to assume that they would trust him had been a huge mistake. His only saving grace was that the Spanish girl didn’t believe him to be a threat. The two girls had gone off to plan, while the red head was left behind to ‘guard’ him. It had been a mistake on their part, as he had already fallen asleep.

How could he deactivate the suit? Aviva had left out that part. He thought back to when he first witnessed them use the power suits. It was when they were capturing the badgers in Russia. He remembered watching Martin saying ‘deactivate’ and placing his hand over the circular disk holder, but the vest looked rather beaten up. He already knew it wouldn’t work as he gave it a try. When he had hit Aviva, she had crashed to the ground and deactivated… would he need to knock himself unconscious?

He took a deep breath and slammed himself against the cage. He was dizzy, but still conscious. He kept trying, but only succeeded in splitting the healing claw marks open on his head. Now he really would have a scar after they healed.

Okay… new plan. What that plan was, he wasn’t sure yet. As he thought, he swished his tail back and forth. He found it helped to calm him. To be honest it was pretty cool being a rat. It wouldn’t have been the first animal he chose, but now that he was a rat, he was sort of enjoying it. He was surprised at how strong his long tail was… maybe it was strong enough to flip the latch?

This cage was meant for smaller rodents, so the latch on the cage wasn’t very complicated. As he raised his tail to push at the latch, he marvelled at the fact he could use a creatures strength to accomplish the task. It took a few tries, but eventually the latch shifted slightly. Christopher was then able to put enough pressure on the door that he could force his body through. He knew that a rodent could get through anything as long as it was no smaller than the skull.

It was a painful squeeze, but soon he found himself outside. Unfortunately, his added weight on the side of the cage caused the whole thing to shift and topple off the table. He hit the ground hard, and the cage came crashing down shortly after. The impact was hard enough that the suit itself managed to deactivate, and he was returned to his human state. At least that was one victory.

The sound, of course, alerted everyone to his escape. Christopher locked eyes with Jimmy, who seemed confused and disoriented from his rude awakening, and he could hear the girls running down the hall. Fate seemed to be on his side for once, as he spied various fallen creature power disks scattered around on the floor. They must have been on the table with the cage and knocked to the floor.

He grinned as he grabbed the one creature power disk he had been denied earlier. Jimmy cried out and dove for him, realizing what was about to happen. It was too late.

If Christopher thought it felt amazing last time, the transformation into a powerful predator like the grey wolf far surpassed it. He could feel the strength of the beast’s muscled body, and the energy… the blood lust. Was it normal to feel the animal’s instincts this way? It didn’t matter, it made him feel powerful. Unstoppable.

With speed he wasn’t accustomed to, the green timber wolf met Jimmy halfway through the air and threw him to the ground. Just as the girls entered the room, he placed his razor sharp claws against Jimmy’s neck, pressing just hard enough to break the skin. The young red-head cried out, eyes bugged. He was obviously terrified of animals and for the hundredth time since he had met the boy, Christopher wondered why they kept him around. The girls stopped dead in their tracks, stunned.

"You actually handed one of your greatest weapons over to your enemy." Christopher laughed. “Remind me again why my brother has such a hard time trying to defeat you?”

"See, Aviva? He was just playing you all along. There was no reason to feel guilty.” Koki growled. “I knew he was just as slimy as Zach."

"You haven't seen any seen anything yet, sweetheart." He dragged Jimmy up, still holding his claws against him. The pilot was shaking, visibly distressed. Christopher felt powerful. He could tear out the young mans neck if he wanted.

Where had that emotion come from? The inner wolf wanted him to exact revenge, make them bleed for what they did to him. Christopher had to close his eyes and take a deep breath. Fighting these unexpected urges was going to be taxing.

"So what now, you hand us over to your brother?" Aviva asked. Christopher momentarily debated whether he should or not. Would it not be a good peace offering? He didn’t want to offer his brother any olive branches at the moment though. His only goal was to show Zach up.

"No, you are all mine. You're going to help me take over Baffinland iron mine, just south of us. You see, I was promised a mine, and unfortunately Zach took mine away." Christopher sneered.

"You’ve got to be kidding. There are over 500 people that work at that mine! They’ll have tight security. Did you even think this plan through?" She asked, reminding him of the same doubtfulness he used to have with his brothers plans. It made him both homesick and livid. He dug the claws further into Jimmy’s neck, letting more blood trickle down.

"You're going to catch me an army of animals to do the job, or I can kill this ginger. If that doesn't work, I'll make sure Zach kills your beloved leader next." He lied. He doubted he had what it took to kill someone, but the others immediately agreed to his demands. He wasn't sure whether to be offended or impressed that they believed he would do it.

“I don’t know what Martin ever saw in you. You’re just as pathetic as Zach. Maybe even worse.” Aviva spat at him before turning away, presumably to get gear. Let her think what she wanted. He wasn’t going to let them bother him. Christopher was going to exceed Zach’s expectations even if it killed him.

-

Aviva didn't know the man well enough to call his bluff. He was obviously good at lying, but he also seemed slightly unhinged. Martin had defended Christopher, said he was intelligent and cared for the environment. If that was the case, whatever Zach had done to him had driven him off the deep end.

There was also the real possibility that Martin had initially been hoodwinked by the silver-tongued man. Deep down inside she doubted it. She didn’t remember much of Christopher when they first met, but he hadn’t seemed this sadistic then. Zach had somehow broken him. She worried more than ever for Martin. Who knew what Zach would do with him?

Aviva and Koki stepped out in to the arctic, armed with creature power suits, nets and ropes. The area was chosen well, as they could see abundant wildlife. The spring caused pack ice in the ocean, and the animals were making good use of it. She could even see a few polar bears out there.

"I can't believe we agreed to do this..." Koki sighed. "It's against everything we believe in."

"I know, but I can't tell if he was bluffing or not." Aviva agreed, shouldering a length of cable rope. "I have faith though, that once Martin is free, he'll find a solution. He always does."


	9. Chapter 9

Martin watched his team lure animals into clever traps. He felt mixed emotions watching them work, but mainly he was proud of his team. Not for being forced to catch the animals, but in their method of capture. It showed how knowledgeable they were about animals as they used their weaknesses against them, and they were as gentle as possible in the process… but it didn’t make it any easier to stomach. It was heart-wrenching, watching them herd the Barren-ground caribou, using their arctic wolf creature powers. Not only were the caribou considered vulnerable, but it seemed fundamentally wrong to use the gift of creature powers for bad.

If being forced to watch wasn’t bad enough, he also had to listen to Zach’s on-going commentary. The man was all but taking notes on ways to catch animals for the future.

The girls worked through the night, and no one slept. Christopher couldn’t risk falling asleep and losing ground, while both Martin and Zach didn’t want to miss a moment. It was hard to watch, but Martin forced himself, like a form of punishment for not being there to stop it. If he had been there, he honestly believed he could have talked Christopher down. There seemed to be a bit of desperation driving the younger man on though. He appeared to slowly giving in to the wolf power, as he was quicker to anger now.

The time had finally come to take over the Baffinland Mine. After working all night and most of the next day, the girls had managed to amass a large variety of animals. There were massive polar bears, all the way down to little lemmings mixed throughout the crowd. Christopher had worked hard too, building collars for the various animals to control them with. He had probably used every piece of scrap in the Tortuga.

Most impressively, as Zach had pointed out multiple times, was that Christopher had managed to build these complex collars using his wolf paw hands. Aside from the fact the suit often jammed up with whatever creature power disk was inside, and might not be able to deactivate, he’d be a fool to so and lose his advantage.

When the horde descended on the mine, it was an impressive show. It was like watching the most intense action movie Martin had ever seen. The hoard of animals charged the mine site, with wolf-Christopher leading the pack. It was evening, so the workers would all be in the camp by now. It would be an easy hostage situation, Martin prayed. He didn’t want to see either side injured.

No one saw the attack coming, so the security team was taken unaware. It was a pretty swift victory, as they gathered everyone on site into the large dining hall. The mine workers looked livid, or terrified, but no one challenged Christopher. One person had made that mistake and all it took was a snap of his fingers, and a polar bear put them in their place. The man was pinned down by large paws, and the growl it released gave Martin goosebumps and he wasn’t even in the same room.

People huddled together in the large hall, quietly watching. Christopher stood in the middle of the room, grinning, while his animals paced around him. Martin couldn’t see any sign of his team, and that made him nervous.

"This is my mine now, and you'll all be working for me now." Christopher spread his arms wide. "You're welcome to quit and go home, but you'll have to find your own way off this frozen island."

Essentially, the workers were stranded if they chose to leave. Martin wasn’t sure if they would be paid for their work if they stayed, but it certainly sounded like Christopher had just acquired over 500 slaves. How long would it take for news to reach the outside world? What would happen when the federal government and Baffinland corporation learned what had happened here tonight? Christopher would be a wanted man, and it would only be a matter of time before he faced the consequences. Was Zach’s attention really worth it?

No one spoke, but there were a few gasps, and people glancing at each other. It was so quiet in the room, that the first sound after Christopher’s declaration was especially jarring. It was the clicking sound of a gun slide. Christopher spun around to find himself face to face with a firearm. Apparently they had missed a security guard at some point.

"What are you?" The man asked incredulously. Not many people had ever seen an activated creature power suit, and Christopher looked especially threatening as a timber wolf hybrid. He didn't back down either. The green wolf snarled and bared his teeth. Christopher was giving in to the animal instincts, which was dangerous.

Aviva had installed them to help in hazardous situations since animals generally had instincts that could help save their lives in a pinch. The fight of flight response had saved their lives a few times already. It was sometimes a struggle to control them when using a predator species power, but Martin and Aviva had a lot of experience, and each other's backs. Christopher, at that moment, had neither.

The timber wolf felt cornered and angry, and his handle on the power was slipping. This would be the time to deactivate but the younger man didn't realize that. Instead, he charged the security guard, catching him off guard. The green wolf bit down hard on the man’s arm, causing him to scream and drop the gun.

Immediately, Christopher picked the handgun up and took aim at the fallen security guard. The poor man was clutching him bleeding arm, begging for mercy. The room was dead silent again as everyone watched.

"Oh shit." Zach immediately hopped out of his chair and ran out of the room. Martin was left alone, watching the screen. He gripped the bars so hard his knuckles turned white. If Christopher did this, he truly would be past the point of no return. The younger man looked so tormented with the choice, obviously fighting against the creature instincts. Martin found himself begging with the man, even if he couldn't hear him. “Don't do it, Christopher... don't do it!”

Zach had arrived on scene and called out for Christopher. Martin made a mental note that they must not be far from the site if he was able to get there so quickly. It was perfect timing. The younger man’s face crumbled when he saw his brother and he immediately dropped the gun. No one moved as it clattered to the floor. Instead, Christopher closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you." He spoke softly, the silence of the room carrying his voice well enough. "Now get back to work."

Christopher left the room, letting the animals do the work for him. Zach led him out into the main hallway. The rest of the building was empty, thankfully. It looked like Christopher was about to drop from the adrenaline crash and exhaustion.

-

“I can’t believe you did this! You’re amazing, Christopher. I really underestimated you!” Zach pulled him in for a tight hug. “I just knew you would make it up to me. After you ruined our chances with the diamond mine, you turned around and stole us an iron mine. I’m so proud!”

Christopher didn’t bother to remind Zach that it was his fault the diamond mine didn’t work out. It was both of their faults. He was just happy to have him back in his life again. At the same time, he resented his brother for leaving him. His emotions were haywire at the moment thanks to the wolf power.

It seemed like his luck continued, because he was able to properly deactivate the power suit. Once he was human again, he slumped against the wall. His emotions were still jumbled, but he no longer wanted blood. Things had gotten too heated in there. If it wasn’t for Zach showing up at the right moment… In fact, his timing had been perfect. It was obvious that his brother had been watching his struggle the whole time. It made Christopher’s blood boil, but he did his best to push it down.

His brother was back and had forgiven him. That was all that mattered now. At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself. Honestly, Christopher felt like he was falling and didn’t know when he would impact.

-

Martin didn’t have to work too hard to escape. Zach hadn’t bothered to tie him down, instead enjoying watching him pace and grasp at the bars pathetically. Then he ran off to go after his “brother” leaving Martin unguarded. It was a simple matter of climbing the bars, which didn’t quite reach the ceiling. 

Zach had to know that Martin was being forced to watch the screens, for once he had gotten Christopher out of the room and into a quiet hallway, he pressed him up against a wall and pulled him in for a kiss. Martin tried to repress the spike of jealousy that ran through him, but he still found himself clenching his jaw. He knew he should turn away but instead he watched as Christopher squirmed under his Zach’s hold. Martin could tell he didn’t want any of it. While that revelation helped his jealousy, it didn’t help his anger.

“Stop Zach.” Christopher’s voice demanded, shoving him off. Zach pulled back, but didn’t move his arms from caging his brother in.

“Come on, Christopher, I thought we would celebrate.” He said as he leaned back in, nuzzling Christopher’s neck.

“You abandoned me.” Christopher said so quietly Martin almost missed it. While Zach kissed his collarbone, Christopher glared at the ceiling. “I’m still angry. I can’t stop feeling angry. I don’t know what’s happening to myself.”

“I’ll make it all better.” Zach nibbled on an earlobe, while one of his hands moved south. “I know you’ve learned your lesson; you’ll never disappoint me again.”

Martin watched as Christopher tensed, and seemed to withdraw on himself. He gave up fighting his brother and Zach took full advantage of it. Martin vowed to beat the shit out of the inventor if he ever got his hands on him. He was in no position at the moment. He didn’t know where the Zachbots were, the mine was swarming with animals, and all he had on him was badger creature powers.

“Come on, let’s take this somewhere more private.” Zach said. Martin watched as he grabbed his brother by the upper arm and forcefully led him away. He couldn’t let Zach get away with this any longer. He had to help Christopher get away from him. Martin tore his eyes away from the screen and made his way for the door.

-

"You're bleeding again." Zach said, tracing his finger along the dried blood. "Or at least you were."

They had found an empty suite in the camp and immediately walked to the attached bathroom. Christopher stared into the bathroom mirror and sighed. It wasn’t even the pain or reminder of the incident that bothered him. If he was being honest; he was tired of constantly looking so gruesome. Maybe a hot shower and a good night’s sleep would be all he needed.

“I tried to use my head to escape as a rat. Literally.” He subconsciously ran his hand along the creature power suit. It reminded him of how powerful, and yet out of control he had been. Christopher pulled it off and let it drop to the floor. He left his shirt on though, self-conscious of the huge claw marks along his back, even if it was only Zach in the room.

“Do they still bother you?” He asked, watching Christopher run his fingers over his shoulder, where the marks start. “Must be hard to have a constant reminder of failure on yourself.”

“Thanks Zach, that’s just the pep-talk I needed.” Christopher ground out, glaring at his brother’s reflection in the mirror.

Zach slid his hands along Christopher's hipbones and wrapped his arms around him. He then pulled them close, so their bodies were flush against each other. Christopher could feel how aroused his brother was. Well, he had wanted to get his brothers attention, and here it was.

“Hey, come on. Don’t be like that.” Zach murmured as he placed gentle kisses on the back of his neck. “Don’t ruin our moment of victory.”

It wasn’t Zach’s victory, but Christopher continued to keep his mouth shut. He was sure his brother would just twist his words somehow.

“We should celebrate.” His brother grinned at him in the mirror. He could feel a knee between his legs, forcing them apart, while a hand to his shoulder blades bent him forward. Christopher could feel his brother’s erection rubbing against the cleft of his cheeks.

"I knew you wanted me as much as I wanted you, Christopher. You proved that to me today." He leaned over and breathed into his ear. "You were so stupid to have been fooled by the Wild Rats. He'll never love you the way I do."

Christopher braced the sides of the sink, staring down the drain. He should stop this now. As he half-heartedly pushed back, Zach grabbed him by the hair.

"You'd let the enemy fuck you, but not me? Especially after all I've done for you." He growled. "That's unacceptable."

Zach let go of his hair, only to reach around to unbutton his pants and yank them down. Christopher closed his eyes and didn't fight it. Zach was right.

"That's better. This is where you belong, with me, not with them. I'll take good care of you, brother." Zach cooed as he rubbed circles into Christopher's lower back. The hands moved lower and lower until a slicked up finger slid along his entrance. Christopher let out a shuddering breath he didn't realize he was holding. It was going to be okay, he told himself.

Zach wasted no time and slid two fingers in, causing Christopher let out a whimper. "Shhhhhh.” He soothed, spreading his brothers thighs wider. He eventually added a third, while his other hand worked its way up under his shirt to play with a nipple. Christopher rested his forehead against the mirror, trying to get his breathing under control and relax.

Eventually, Zach lost patience and removed his fingers. Christopher could feel the blunt head of his brother’s cock pushing at his entrance and he grit his teeth, knowing he wasn't ready. Zach quickly entered him, burying himself deep in one thrust. Christopher tried, and failed, to hold back a cry of pain. It didn't deter Zach, though. Instead, he continued to move, fast and rough. All Christopher could do was claw at the porcelain and beg his brother to stop.

"Enough of that." Zach said, holding a hand over Christopher's mouth. "You love this."

A hand wrapped around his cock and started to pump along with the thrusts. It helped to take the edge off the pain, but it was just as unwelcome as everything else happening at the moment. Once his brother shifted his position enough to hit his prostate, Christopher let out a muffled scream at the sudden friction. Zach let go of his mouth and gripped his hips instead.

"Yeah, scream for me baby." Zach said huskily, picking up the pace. It felt good and it felt awful, all at the same time. Christopher braced his hands against the wall, panting. Zach abandoned any control he had and pumped erratically, close to the edge. It caused him to shift positions and he was no longer causing the right friction. Whatever small amount of pleasure Christopher had managed to find was gone, and he was swallowed in the pain and anguish again. Unfortunately, his body was too wound up already and the hand on his cock stroked him into an orgasm. He sobbed as he rode through it.

Zach, as though encouraged by his brother’s sobs, reached his climax shortly after. He pumped in short, shuddering thrusts as he emptied his load deep inside.

Finally, he pulled out, and Christopher slumped against the sink. Zach turned him around and kissed away the tears.

"You did good; you were so good." Zach placated him. "I know I was a little rough, but you needed to let go and stop fighting it. It would have been so much better if you had."

His words only made Christopher feel worse. He had shown his brother how well he could do on his own, but all Zach saw was someone to use how he pleased. Capturing the mine suddenly felt pointless. It hadn't gotten the message across at all. Maybe the act hadn't been as meaningful as he thought. What would he have to do to prove to Zach that they could be equals?

The numbness from Zach's departure a few days ago had stuck around. Christopher had hoped that with his brother back, things might return to normal, but he was very mistaken. Worse, the spark of anger that had kept him going in Zach's absence had been doused now. He could do nothing but wallow in the feeling of nothingness.

So when his brother asked him: "This is your fault, you know. Are you going to do better the next time?" Christopher simply nodded, accepting his fate. He decided he wasn't going to bother trying anymore. Hard work seemed to get him absolutely no where.

"I love you, Christopher." Zach smiled at him, cupping his cheek and kissing him. "Let's get those claw marks looked at and then maybe we can have a nice dinner. We'll get the chef to make whatever you want. Would you like that?"

Christopher nodded and allowed himself to be lead out of the room.


	10. Chapter 10

Martin needed to help Christopher; he couldn’t just sit back and watch while Zack took advantage of him. Especially since he knew that Zack was expecting him to still be locked up and watching. Now that he knew Christopher was his brother, it made everything Zach did a million times worse. He still couldn’t believe that Chris was actually still alive. He quietly mourned the loss of growing up with him. What would Chris have been like if he hadn’t been raised with Zach? Maybe the two of them could have travelled together, doing research. Or maybe that wouldn’t have been his style. At least they would have been close, able to talk on the phone whenever they wanted.

Instead, Martin felt like he had somehow let his brother down not being there. Knowing the truth now, it was especially hard to watch Christopher act like this. Like Zach. He had to stop him.

Getting out of the cell had not been the problem, it was getting past the Zachbots guarding the exits. It looked like Zach hadn’t left him completely abandoned. They were cheaply made, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t over power him if he was spotted.

Transforming back in to his badger form, he slowly crept along the shadows. Thankfully, the ship was poorly lit. He only had one chance to escape and if he foiled it, he would probably die for it. So he slowly crept on, trying not to set off any motion sensors the robots might have had installed. It was an extremely challenging task, especially when he knew his brother was in danger and all he wanted to do was run.

Finally, he managed to make it past the Zachbots and out into the arctic night. His breath fogged in the frigid air as he took in his surroundings. Why couldn’t they have chosen to build a mine on a tropical island? A little badger just wasn’t built for cold temperatures like this. Martin would have to go forward as a human, which wasn’t that much better. Dropping his creature power, he ran for the main compound of the camp.

It wasn’t going to be easy going. There were animals literally everywhere. The girls had done too good a job catching them. Speaking of the crew, Martin wasn’t sure what had happened to the team of the Tortuga afterwards, but he prayed Christopher hadn’t done anything drastic. After their little trick of turning him into a rat, he didn’t hold out hope.

Once Martin had gotten to the mine, he was surprised to find no security detail, human or animal. They were all probably still inside the main building. With Zach’s arrival, Christopher hadn’t gotten much of an opportunity to really give orders and direction. Instead, the mine seemed to be sitting in a state of limbo. The miners were probably still reeling from the evening’s events.

Sure enough, once he made it inside, he could see that the main room was still packed with people, muttering quietly to each other. Martin could sense the unease in the room. If Christopher and Zach weren’t careful, there would be an uprising to take back the mine. It was one thing to hold animals here against their wills, but humans? There were a lot of people here too, and they out-numbered the animals easily. All it would take was for them to get properly organized. Right now they were all afraid and angry, especially after the gun incident, but given more time to stew over the circumstances, they would rally.

Martin thought that all of this was a pretty twisted grand gesture for Christopher to pull in order to get his ‘brother’ back, and of course it had worked. Zach loved it. But had either of them thought past the initial take-over? Martin wasn’t even a bad guy, but he could feel the hostility of the workers as they laid eyes on him. He wasn’t familiar, which meant he wasn’t one of them. He was being grouped with Zach and Christopher. Thankfully the animals inside didn’t pay him any notice. To them, he was just a mine worker, and they only had to keep him inline if he broke whatever rules Christopher had programmed in to them.

He was inside though, and that was all that mattered. First things first, he had to find Christopher. Then he would make the young man fix this colossal problem somehow. 

He sighed. His plan sucked, if he was being honest, but he had to keep faith that this could all be fixed. There was no other option. He’d have to take this in small steps. First he located the hallway he saw Zach take Christopher down. 

Just as he took a deciding step forward, a short, blond woman stepped in front of him, causing him to almost crash into her. He wasn’t sure who she was, but judging by her business suit, he assumed she had to work some sort of administration position at the mine. When she turned to look at him, her eyes narrowed.

“You look familiar.” She said, cocking her head to the side. “Have we met?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so.” Martin replied. She didn’t seem very upset, especially since the mine had been taken over by pirates, so to speak. She crossed her arms and frowned. He had the distinct feeling she was judging him.

“Are you related to Christopher? You both look very similar.” 

“Oh. Uh…” He mumbled, unsure of how to answer.

“I don’t like your face.” She said bluntly, not waiting for his answer. “You look like a Varmitech, and that makes me very angry. Have you seen either of those brothers? My associate and I have been trying to track those brothers down.”

Trying not to be offended at her comment about him looking like a Varmitech, Martin looked over her shoulder at the man standing a few feet away from her. To say he was huge was an understatement. The hulking man looked rough, as though he had been in a lot of fights. He was obviously her bodyguard. Or thug. Probably both.

“No, I’m looking for them too.” He said slowly, unable to tear his eyes away from the hulking giant. He was terrifying. “I’ll… uh, let you know if I find them.”

“Please do.” She smiled, before turning away. Martin stood there, stupefied for a moment. These two were just another item to add to the list of shit about the hit the fan. By the sounds of it, Paisley and her henchman were about to rough the brothers up… or worse. It was all the more reason to find Christopher as soon as he could.

It wasn’t going to be easy though. A huge Polar bear had decided to park itself right in front of the entrance to the hallway, and growled when he came near. As a ‘mine worker’, he wouldn’t be allowed to go anywhere he pleased. Thinking about the ugly marks Christopher sported on his face, Martin knew he shouldn’t push his luck, especially with a bear bigger, and meaner, than a grizzly. Martin would have to find another way in. 

Usually the trailers had emergency exits. If he could figure out where the door was from the outside, maybe he could sneak in the back. As he was making his way back to the door, he spied something yellow in the crowd.

There, at the back of the room, was his crew. They were surrounded by a group of arctic hare, which didn’t seem to be threatening, but it looked as though Jimmy had already attempted escape and was sporting a bleeding bite mark to his shin. As Martin walked closer, the herd of rabbits stared blankly at him as he walked by. It was eerie.

The three team members were standing, but their mouths had been taped and arms bound behind their back. Martin peeled the tape off of Aviva’s mouth, watching the rabbits as he did so. They didn’t object, so he continued with the rest of the team.

“Are you guys alright?” Martin asked, attempting to unlock the handcuffs. 

“Yeah, we’re okay.” Aviva said. “Don’t waste your time with these handcuffs, though. They’re built from the same material as those collars.”

“Things don’t look good right now, Martin. I don’t think these collars will be as easy to pull off as the helmets had been.” Koki explained in a hushed tone. “I think our only chance to free the animals and put a stop to this mess would be to shut down the power source…”

The plan sounded too easy, and as the three crew members looked at each other, he knew it was too good to be true. 

“What is it? What’s the bad news?” He asked.

“The power source is the Tortuga itself.” Jimmy sighed. Martin reeled at that information. The only way to put this nightmare to an end was to power down the Tortuga. He doubted it would be as easy as turning the engines off either. They were going to have to take out the tellurium crystals, and that meant possibly losing the Tortuga forever.

“There has to be another way…” He said, knowing there wasn’t. They couldn’t pull the collars off without powering them down. Without getting the collars off, there was no way to free the animals. And if they didn’t free the animals, either the mine would stay in Varmitech power, or a higher power was going to step in. Things could get ugly then. The animals would most likely get put down, and Christopher and Zach would go to jail… or worse.

Sacrificing the Tortuga though? The ship was not just their main mode of transportation, but also where most of their research took place. It helped them help animals in need all over the world. Was saving this hoard of animals more important than the millions of other animals around the world? 

Martin knew he should probably choose to sacrifice these animals for the greater good, but that just wasn’t him. It wasn’t his crew either.

“We have to sacrifice the Tortuga.” Aviva said sadly. “We can’t let these humans and animals suffer. It wouldn’t be right.”

“I agree. We’ll find a way to bring the Tortuga back. I’m sure we could do it.” Koki agreed, sounding more confident than he was sure she actually felt. Losing the Tortuga would be a huge blow to her, especially since she was the mechanical engineer for the ship. 

“The Tortuga is the most amazing ship I’ve ever flown, but if we can’t bring her back, then we can build a new, better ship.” Jimmy said with a big smile. “Maybe in the shape of a lion! Like Voltron!”

Martin laughed. His team was right. They would either find a way to save the ship, or build a new one. This wasn’t necessarily the end. “Alright. I’ll go shut it down now. When you guys are free, you’ll need to start helping the animals. I think this place will descend in to madness once they’re free. I’ll come help as soon as I can.”

Everyone nodded to each other. It was hard to turn his back and walk away from his team, and all the animals. Martin was abandoning Christopher to whatever Zachs plans were, but if he could shut down the power, it would surly flush the two of them out. He promised he would be back for everyone as he slipped out the door.

-

Martin found himself back out in the arctic cold. His teeth chattered and his breaths came out in puffs of fog. Pushing his sleeves down, he found himself wishing he had an arctic creature power at the moment. The Tortuga was parked far away as well, as Christopher hadn’t wanted to alert the security of their arrival. 

He trudged along, thankful that it was late spring, and there wasn’t a lot of snow left. The ground below crunched beneath his feet, and the rhythmic sound helped him think. As he replayed the last two days over in his head, he couldn’t help but think how messed up everything was. He found out that the man he loved was not only sleeping with Zach, but also his brother. Then Martin watched as Christopher sunk to a new low, enslaving both humans and animals, and almost committing murder. As he came into view of the Tortuga, he wondered if his brother would even be salvageable after all of this. He also wondered if everyone involved would need therapy.

As he stepped inside the ship, the gentle humming of the backup engine greeted him. This place had been his home for a few years now, and his team had become his family, and he was about to sacrifice it. As he walked to the room that housed the power core, he looked around the ship, smiling at fond memories.

Once, Jimmy had left the bay doors open overnight while they were stopped over in Nepal. The whole team awoke to a 4-metre-long Burmese python slinking around the control room. Martin had thought it was really cool, but everyone else panicked and made him remove it.

And in this room, Aviva had first perfected the miniaturizer. Koki and Martin had been stuck at 3 inches tall for a few days until she figured out the problem. Neither complained though, especially when it meant they got to experience life with a mouse lemur.  
Finally, he found himself standing in front of the power core, staring at the tellurium crystals floating in a light beam. There was a set of electrical gloves sitting to the side that he picked up and slid on. Jimmy had once made the mistake of putting his hand directly in the core and had gotten a pretty big shock from it. His hair had a slight curl to it for months afterwards.

Martin apologized to the ship and said a small farewell before reaching in and grasping the crystal shards and pulling them out. Immediately, the lights were doused and the engine stalled. It was suddenly too dark and too quiet.

“You did good work, girl.” He said sadly, patting the console sadly. He tried placing a crystal back on the core, just to see what would occur, but nothing happened. The ship was dead. Well, there was nothing else he could really do at the moment. This was best left to the engineers. Martin had to get back to the mine anyways. 

The fastest way to get back would be a creature power… but would the vests still work? There was only one way to find out. He carefully navigated through the dark ship until he got to the control room where all the disks were kept. He needed something arctic and fast. He thought about using a caribou disk, but Martin settled on the arctic wolf. It was the second largest predator on the island and would get him back as fast as possible.

Here went nothing. He placed the disk inside, grabbed a sample of fur from their DNA collection, and activated the suit. Miraculously, it worked. Perhaps it had enough residual power, like a battery. He’d have to make the most of it then. 

He had turned in to a sleek white and blue wolf. It looked like the location affected the transformation, turning him into a Baffin Island Wolf. These subspecies were much smaller than most arctic wolves, but it’s adaptions to the island would help him move better on the terrain. 

Back outside in the night, he felt much warmer. He glanced at the Tortuga with regret once more before he bounded off into the arctic plains.

-

Zach and Christopher had just left the bunk house, heading to the kitchens, when two people stepped in front of them.

“Paisley! Have you come to celebrate our victory?” Zach grinned at the small woman. She frowned, looking between the two of them. Christopher simply stood off to the side, not wanting to get involved. He just wanted to eat and go to sleep. Maybe just spend the next day in bed.

“Your victory? Sounds more like Christopher did all the work.” She sneered. His head snapped up at the comment. She gave him a calculated look. Her grey eyes felt like they could look right through him. Did she know he was broken? There was no point in provoking Zach for him. But he supposed that’s what he liked about the short woman. She was brutally honest and said whatever she wanted. “Besides, I’m here because I was contracted to do a job and you owe me money.”

“The scope changed and now you’re behind schedule and over budget.” Zach shrugged, as though it was completely her fault that they switched base of operations and never warned her. “Come see me when you make the necessary changes and we’ll get the payment figured out.”

Christopher had to give it to his brother, he certainly had balls. She might be little, but Paisley was a woman who commanded a lot of power and respect. At that very moment, she also had a huge bodyguard behind her, glaring at Zach. 

“No. I don’t trust you anymore. You’ll pay me the full total for the original project, the alterations and a nice bonus for putting up with your shit right now.” She crossed her arms and stared him down.

“Excuse me? There is no fucking chance of that happening.” The thug stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. Zach paled slightly, but stood his ground. “What, you think he intimidates me?”

Zach never got an answer to his question. With a curt nod from Paisley, the giant stepped forward and threw a punch. It connected with his brother’s jaw and he went down hard. Christopher jumped forward to check on Zach to find him out cold.

“Jesus...” he mumbled, tearing his eyes from his brother and looking up at Paisley. She had taken a step forward and nudged the prone man with the toe of her shoe. 

“Too bad. I hoped to make him suffer a little more.” She sighed and turned to her henchmen. “Rex! You know better than to start at 100%”

“Sorry ma’am. His face made me angry.” He grunted. 

“And what’s wrong with you?” Paisley asked as she turned to face him. “You seem… off.”

How could he answer that? He knew he was off. Christopher had lost his fight, and now he was just full of hate and self-loathing. These new emotions were eating him alive. For the first time in a long time, he wondered why his life was so fucked up.

“I’m fine.” He lied. She stared at him a little longer before shrugging. He knew she didn’t believe him.

“Very well. Let this be a warning to you then.” She motioned to his brother. “You better shape up this operation, or Rex and I will be back. I don’t like having to come back twice, understand?”

He nodded dumbly. Christopher must have a special brand of dumb luck these days. Had he been in Paisley’s shoes, he didn’t doubt for one minute that he would have roughed both of them up. He wouldn’t question it, though. Why look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, Christopher stood up, unsure of what to do with Zach. Part of him wanted to just leave him there.

“Oh, a blond haired man was here looking for you.” Paisley said, typing something on her phone and not bothering to look up. Blond man? Could it have been Martin? Of course he would have escaped. Zach’s plans failed all the time, why shouldn’t this one?

The building erupted in screaming and shouting. Christopher ran into the main hall to find absolute chaos. The animals had broken free and were rampaging around the room. The predators chased both the smaller animals and the humans, the humans fought back, and there were casualties on both sides. 

In the middle of the fray was the team members of the Tortuga, trying to help. Christopher narrowed his eyes. If they had gotten free, it could only mean that the power source had been shut down.

Martin. If Zach was awake he would punch him himself. At this rate, the mine was going to be another write off. He had put so much work in to both mines, only to watch both of them crumble before his eyes. He was so fucking tired of all this bullshit. Finding that spark of anger again, he transformed back into a timber wolf and leapt out into the night. He was going to hunt down Martin and put a stop to him.

Christopher let the creature’s blood lust take over and guide him as he leapt across the terrain. The wolf was so fast it took less than ten minutes to be within sight of the ship. A blue creature caught his eye, and he knew he had found his target. It was time to end his once and for all.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if these chapters are starting to lose continuity, don't make sense, are too rushed, or whatever. I'm really starting to lose steam on this project and OTP, to be honest, but I really want to finish it. I wrote most of this a while ago, so I've had to had a couple paragraphs here or there, but as I wasn't really willing to re-read the whole thing, some parts might seem... off? Anyways, please enjoy. There will only be another 2 or 3 left and then I'll be done!

In the distance, Martin could see something racing towards him. He didn’t need falcon sight to know that it was probably Christopher. Of course he would come when he realized that the power source had been shut down. Seeing as he had the three other crew members tied up, he would know it was him.

He and Christopher hadn’t come face to face since Zach broke him... Martin had no idea what to expect. To be honest he was nervous... and a little excited. But mostly nervous. From what he had seen on the screens, and his observations of the man in person, things didn’t bode well.

Christopher was back in the creature power suit, meaning Martin had a very angry grey wolf heading his direction. He found himself wishing he had used a different power, like a polar bear at this moment, but the arctic wolf would do. The goal was to power down Christopher’s suit... if he could get that close without getting mauled.

The distance closed between them, and Martin braced himself, digging his paws into the frozen ground. Timing it perfect thanks to his wolf instincts, he leapt into the air just as the green wolf descended.

The two wolves leapt at each other. Christopher, who had let the wolf take over completely, growled and clamped his jaw around Martins neck, throwing him to the ground. As a larger wolf species, he had the advantage of strength. Martin’s only hope was to use the agility that came with a smaller size. He also had the advantage of being on native land. The Baffin Island wolf would have better instincts on permafrost than a wolf from the plains or boreal forest.

Martin kicked Christopher off and rolled to his feet. With as much speed as he could muster, he took off, back towards the Tortuga. A quick glance backwards saw Christopher in hot pursuit. Just as the larger wolf started to gain on him, Martin dug his claws into the ground and spun around before he launched at him. Christopher, not expecting the attack, was unable to maneuver as smoothly as Martin and was unable to block the attack.

The two found themselves back on the ground, rolling to a stop. Christopher was momentarily stunned and Martin took the opportunity to quickly deactivate his own suit. With as much strength as he could, he made a double hammer fist and brought it down on the creature power suit disk holder. The impact shattered the interface, causing Christopher to deactivate as well.

The shock of a forced deactivation, and the sudden loss of the wolf instincts that had been driving him forward, rocked Christopher hard. He took a huge gasp of air and cried out, as his body jolted from the electricity that was sparking from the damaged suit, arced through him. The suit was officially done.

The downtime didn’t last long though, Martin had managed to pin the younger man to the ground, and Christopher was livid.

“You’ve ruined everything!” He yelled as he thrashed. Martin had to grab his wrists and pin them above his head to avoid getting hit. “You’ll pay for this!”

“Stop this, Christopher!” Martin straddled him, trying to make him listen. “This isn’t you, no matter what you try to tell yourself! Zach is manipulating you!”

“Lies! All you do is lie and use people!” His voice cracked. “You made me think you liked me, just so you could get at Zach. And I believed you!”

Martin was shocked. Had this downward spiral been started by him? He had rejected Christopher, possibly broken his heart, and Zach jumped on the opportunity. Started seeding the dark, ugly thoughts into his head. Forced him to do things he didn’t want to do. Isolated him to keep him starved for attention. Left him exhausted so he’d be easier to manipulate. It had all started because of him, and Martin felt crushing guilt.

“Christopher, I-“

“Save it. It’s too late.” He continued to struggle, almost thrashing. “I beat you and your stupid team, and I’ve even surpassed my brother. You can’t stop me now!”

Martin, sick of listening to Christopher’s angry ranting, leaned down and kissed him. Immediately the younger man froze up. Martin needed to make him understand.

“Christopher, I care about you.” He pulled away and started on his neck instead. “I want to be with you. Since you’ve already won, I have nothing to gain by tricking you with these statements, don’t you see? I’ve lost my ship, you have my crew, and I can’t possibly stand up to you and Zach on my own. I really have lost.”

Christopher looked confused as he processed the statement. The younger man was so convinced that Martins feelings for him were a way of using him, but there was nothing more he could gain now. 

“You’re using sex to try to make me change my mind. Using me to-” Christopher feebly struggled, torn between his beliefs and his body. “To free the mine... the animals…”

“I don’t get it. You’re a brilliant engineer, why would you even want a mine? Especially one you didn’t design yourself? This was all to get revenge on your brother, or to get his attention.” Martin pulled back, cupping his hands gently on Christopher’s face. “This was what your brother wanted, not you. Can’t you see that he’s using you?”

The young man shook his head, but didn’t reply. Martin felt like maybe he was starting to crack. He would just have to try harder.

“You don’t have to be alone any more, Christopher. I would never isolate you or push you to your limits… outside of the bedroom.” He grinned, enjoying the blush that crossed the brunettes face. Martin gently traced the healing claw mark. “You could travel with us and I’ll teach you about animals and nature. We could walk away from this mess. Just say you’ll stay with me, please.”

-

Christopher was exhausted. He had done so much, in such a short time. None of it had really been for himself either. It had ALL been to impress Zach. Martin was right. He didn’t want a mine, that was never his life dream. Everything had been Zach’s idea… Had his brother tricked him? He knew that his brother had become more controlling and quick to judge lately, but it was because he wanted him to succeed, right? They were both under a lot of stress.

Even as he thought it, he knew he was lying to himself. When he looked back at the whirlwind last few months, Zach had left the majority of the work up to him, and drove him as hard as he could. He used him. The only moments of real happiness had been with Martin… Being around him felt good. Almost made life feel normal. If Christopher went with him, he actually believed that they could travel together. There would be no major challenges or expectations. He could go back to school, just like he had always wanted to.

He loved his brother, even now, but the last few months had been emotional hell. Christopher had worked so hard for his brother, only for Zach to shut the mine down without thought. Then when he worked at getting his brothers attention again, Zach took all the credit and treated him like shit. Martin might be using him, but so was Zach, his own brother. His heart dropped with the realization. He felt like such an idiot.

“Stay with me, Christopher. Don’t retreat in to yourself.” Martin tilted his head, trying to catch his eyes. Christopher felt broken all over again, but instead if numbness, he felt horrible anguish. He had hurt animals, threatened people and took hostages, and worst of all, he almost killed a man. All for his brother. The man who loved him, and used him, and purposely broke him. 

“Hey… it’s going to be alright.” Martin whispered as he wiped the tears that had fallen down his cheeks. But it wasn’t. Christopher felt more alone than ever. Thanks to his brother, he didn’t think he’d ever be able to trust Martin, let alone anyone. Moreover, thanks to Martin, he didn’t think he’d ever be able to trust Zach again. He had no one.

Christopher felt pathetic and hated himself. It must have been written all over his face, because Martin jumped off him, and instead pulled him in to a tight embrace. Even if he couldn’t trust the older man, he needed this. He sobbed, clutching the fabric of Martin’s blue fleece in his hands.

-

Martin knew he had gotten through to Christopher when he stopped fighting and almost deflated beneath him. The younger man then broke down in his arms, and there was nothing he could do but hold him close.

He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject that they were actually brothers, especially since Christopher was in a fragile state. Would he even believe him? And would it just make matters worse, especially considering their past? Martin was willing to look past it, but was he? 

For the time being, Martin would keep it a secret, at least until he could gain Christopher’s trust. First thing was to remove him from Zach completely. There was no way off the island though. If he could get the crew back to look at the Tortuga, maybe there was some way to get it up and running again. That meant going back into Zach’s domain.

Would he be killed on sight? He definitely couldn’t bring Christopher with him, or he could lose him all over again. The next big problem was getting the crew to agree to travel with Christopher. There was probably a lot of bad blood between the four of them now. Maybe it would just be easier if they all went their separate ways for a bit…

“Let’s get to the Tortuga, go somewhere safe and sheltered.” He said to his brother, who had calmed down, but was shivering now. Christopher nodded, hesitantly taking the offered hand to stand up. They walked in silence together for a few minutes before Christopher finally broke it.

“Martin… I’m sorry. For everything.” His voice quivered slightly. It would be a while before he was really okay. “I’ve done a lot of bad stuff.”

“You’re going to be living with your actions for the rest of your life, Christopher. I know you’ll regret and hate yourself for them, but you need to stop looking at the action, and start looking at the cause of the actions.” Martin tried to get him to stop blaming himself. “It’s true, you really have done some bad things, but wasn’t it all because of Zach? The things he said and did to you. You wanted to prove something to him.”

“He didn’t tell me to almost kill the guard. Or to virtually enslave a bunch of innocent people.” Christopher mumbled, a few tears rolling down his cheeks again. They had made it to the Tortuga, and Martin placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder and turned him so they faced each other.

“Maybe not, but he made sure to break your spirit and poison your thoughts so that you’d think however he wanted you to.” Martin said, tilting the brunettes chin up so he could look into his eyes. His brother had rich brown eyes. They were the first thing he really noticed when they first met. 

Martin found himself wishing he had called Christopher the next day after they had met. He should never had assumed he was anything like Zach. He certainly hadn’t been that way when they first met. Things might have been a lot different. As they entered the Tortuga, he was full of regrets, especially about not being able to travel with his brother.

-

The ship felt, off. As off as a hunk of metal could be, Christopher thought to himself. Martin had obviously turned the power off, but why did it feel so… desolate? He had a strange feeling, as though stepping in to a graveyard. He shuddered, and wrapped his arms around himself.

Martin, assuming he was cold, reached for him. The motion caused Christopher to flinch. Zach manhandling him was still very fresh in his mind. As he turned to look at the older man, he saw sadness and anger in his eyes. Christopher realized that Martin probably knew about him and Zach. He didn’t doubt his brother had freely given that information. How much had he been told, and how much had he guessed?

He didn’t want to be pitied. Christopher had allowed it to happen after all. It was all his fault. Maybe it was karma for all the shit he had pulled lately. 

“Christopher… Did Zach force you-“ He started, but Christopher didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to think about it. So he shut the older man up the only way he could think. He leaned forward and kissed him.

Martin had seemed shocked at first, but quickly reciprocated. Christopher didn’t know why he had chosen this method to stop talking. Why was he doing this? He couldn’t control himself. For all his talk, Martin probably hated him for what he had done. Was he punishing himself? 

No, Christopher knew he was doing this because he had never stopped thinking about it since he met Martin. The man might be disgusted by him, pity him, or whatever, but Christopher didn’t care. He needed this after being miserable for so long. He just wanted to feel okay again. He would give in to the temptation and regret it later.

-

Christopher pulled him down for a kiss. It was a ploy to stop talking, but Martin was all too happy to give the man an out. It was a slow, tentative kiss, as though they were both testing the waters. It had been a long time since they were first together and so much had happened since then. Who knew how often Zach and Christopher… were together. Did Christopher even really want this, or was he just feeling guilty and needed an escape?

It would be up to Christopher to decide what he wanted. Martin suspected Zach had been pushing him too far, too often, so he would give the man a chance to decide for himself. Christopher pulled back, breathing heavy, before starting on Martins neck. The older man gasped, arching his neck out for easier access. 

Fingers grasped at each other’s jackets; the blue one coming off easier than the green, which was a pull-over. Christopher gave him a shy smile, raising his arms above his head. Martin hooked his hands under the edge of his sweater and undershirt, pulling both up at the same time. The sight of the tanned skin almost made him drool. He was especially careful when it came to his shoulders, where he could see the beginnings of the grizzly claw marks. He swallowed hard, trying not to dwell on it.

Once Christopher had his shirt off though, Martin could see bruises along his hips and stopped dead. The claw marks were bad enough, but this? He trailed a finger gently along the line before looking up into brown eyes. Christopher looked terrified and embarrassed. Martin knew by his reaction that these were caused by Zach. Either the younger man liked it rough, or he had been manhandled possibly against his will… and he was willing to bet it was the latter.

"Hey, it's okay. We can stop if you want." Martin tried his best to keep the anger out of his voice, but the guilty look and the averted gaze he was given meant he had failed. He swore when he saw Zach again he would punch him right in his rat face. "No Christopher, I mean it. I don't know what happened, but-"

Christopher once again pulled him in for a kiss, only this one was more desperate. His hands fisted in the fabric of his shirt and pulled him closer. The action caused Martin to fall over, bringing the two of them down. They stayed like that for a bit, while Martin explored at his leisure. He traced biceps and ran his tongue along the collar bone and the base of the neck, leaving his brother panting. He raked his nails over his chest, causing Christopher to jerk when they scrape purposely over his nipples.

He quickly sat up, pulling his white shirt off. After getting a nod from Christopher, he shucked both of their pants off, before turning back to settle between the bare thighs. Christopher subconsciously spread his legs a little wider, letting out a soft moan.  
Martin's arms curled around his thighs and he nuzzled into the soft flesh at the crook of the knee, pressing a gentle kiss there, before heading lower. He wanted Christopher to stop thinking so hard, to shut his brain off. The gasp he earned as he nosed the sensitive skin of the inner thigh was a good sign. It was a good start, but Martin wanted to hear his brother incoherent. 

He grasped the hardening cock, running a thumb over the slit and smearing the small bead of precum. Martin gave special attention to the tip, smirking when Christopher shuddered as he teased where the head meets the shaft with his thumb. He trailed his tongue along the underside before swallowing Christopher whole, focusing on making him keen and writhe against the floor. Martin had to place his hands on the man’s hips to keep him from bucking too much, careful not to put his hands anywhere near the bruises. He needed to show Christopher what sex should actually feel like. What life with him could be like.

Once the brunette managed to control his hips, Martin reached down and placed his hands between his thighs, pushing them slightly wider. Christopher seemed to tense as he reached lower between his thighs, probably thanks to Zach forcing himself on him. Martin’s blood boiled again, but he pushed it down. Now wasn't the time. Instead he focused on the sweet sounds Christopher was making. 

Martin took his time opening up Christopher, working in one finger and then another. As he eased the second finger inside, Christopher threw his head back and moaned, far too loudly in the silence of the dead ship. There was no one to hear them, thankfully, and Martin wanted to hear how loud he could make him scream. 

"Oh fuck, Martin." Christopher cried out. It wasn’t as loud as he was hoping for, but it was a start. “This feels-ah! Fuck!”

Martin hummed his agreement, loving the way Christopher gives a full body shudder. He was getting closer to his goal of making Christopher incoherent. Then he pulled off with a filthy pop. “This isn’t too much, right?"

"No." Christopher panted. "I want more."

He was only too happy to oblige. Martin sat up and shuffled closer. He reached down and lined up, the head of his cock pressing against Christopher's entrance before he slid inside. He knew he had to go slow, sinking in inch by inch, letting Christopher have all the time he needed to adjust. It was hard to hold back, but Martin called upon every fibre of restraint he had, carefully watching the younger man’s face. The noise Christopher made at finally being filled was the most heavenly thing Martin had ever heard.  
The younger man's heat surrounded him, greedily swallowed him whole, and he couldn't help but plunge deeper until he bottomed out. Martin had to press his face into the crook of Christopher's neck to calm himself with a few steadying breaths. Christopher himself had his head tilted back, trying to control his panting. Everything felt just as good as he remembered. 

The first thrust of his hips was almost overwhelming, having wanted this for so long, but at least Christopher seemed to react the same. He's already starting to fall to pieces in his grasp. Martin began a bit slow, but within seconds, he'd picked up a quick pace, thrusting hard into the younger man. All the while, each thrust had Christopher gasping and moaning.

-

Christopher's mind was blank for the first time in a long time. He was flying high in deep euphoria, he had forgotten how good it felt to be properly taken. Martin was gentle and kissed him constantly, his neck, his lips, his collarbones, his ears, as he thrust over and over with force, as if he wanted to be inside him more than anything. His hands travelled all over Christopher's body, up his arms, and intertwined their fingers. His breath on Christopher's cheek, as he kissed it, sent goosebumps down his body.  
Zach didn’t love him, not like this. Martin was practically worshipping him. How could he have believed that the man’s emotions were a trick? These were the actions of someone who cared. A lot. He was suddenly filled with regret and disappointment. His blank mind was now filled with self-loathing.

As if realizing Christopher was sinking back in to himself, Martin changed positions. He hooked his elbow under Christopher's knee and moved it up, pushing it down towards the floor, and that way he reached his prostate directly. It was just the thing to clear his mind again. Martin thrust right into it quickly shallowly, and Christopher fell apart, screaming and grunting, shuddering all over, and tilting his head back. Finally, Martin lifted his ass off the floor more, hooked his arms under his knees, and thrust deep and with force, pushing him into the floor.

His brain was officially goo. Christopher decided right there that he was hopelessly in love with this man, and in his delirious mind, the words spilled out of his mouth.

-

Martin had almost lost Christopher to himself, and he just wouldn’t allow it. Not right now. Not ever, If he could help it. He needed to shut his beautiful brain off, so he switched positions, knowing exactly what the man below him needed. The sounds he made afterwards brought him closer to the edge. Martin knew he wouldn't last much longer, but forced himself to wait, to hold on. He needed to watch Christopher fall apart. The younger man had already started begging, but for what he never specified. It wasn't until his declaration of love that Martin knew he wasn't going to make it.

One hand wrapped around Christopher's cock and pumped along with each thrust, the other grasping his hip. It’s just enough to send his brother over the edge.

When he finally came, it was truly a sight to behold. Christopher arched his back, his head barely touching the ground, crying out as his orgasm hit him. Martin felt the sticky warmth of between them, felt the muscles pulse around his cock, and after a couple hard, shuttering thrusts, he joined him with a shout. The two held on to each other desperately as they rode it out together.

He was never going to let go of Christopher ever again. They belonged together, and he would convince the younger man even if it took the rest of his life.


	12. Chapter 12

“Say you’ll stay with me, Christopher.” Martin stared in to his eyes, still holding him close. “Let’s walk away from this and start over. We could even go on our first date.”

Christopher smiled at the older man. A first date seemed so innocent after all they had been through, but a fresh start was something he wished he could have. He tried to imagine going to a movie, sharing some popcorn, and maybe sneaking a kiss. Perhaps a dinner, where they argue over the check afterwards. Or a casual drive in that clunky jeep Martin drove around so proudly

“You don’t have to answer me yet, think it over. I have to go back to the mine and help my team… and I can’t tell you what to do, but I think it would be best if you stayed here.” Martin said out loud. What he wasn’t saying was that he didn’t trust him around Zach. Christopher didn’t blame him. His brother had a life time of experience manipulating him; who knew what he would say if they were face to face again. Especially when he was so mentally vulnerable at the moment.

“Why do you keep giving me the benefit of the doubt?” He asked as the two of them got dressed and Martin held his hand out to help him up. Face to face again, Martin placed a small kiss on his forehead.

“Well, I met you before Zach really sunk in claws in. I could still see you under all that corruption now and then. I also always had a weird compulsion to protect you all the time. I guess I know why now...” Martin chewed his lip, as though he was considering his next words. “Look, there is something I need to tell you, and I hope you’ll still be willing to continue, well, our relationship, but I’ll completely understand if you don’t.”

Christopher grinned at a befuddled Martin. After all the bad things he had done, what did Martin think he had done that would be bad enough to turn him away? Taking a deep breath, the older man started with “You and I are actually-“ but wasn’t able to finish his sentence before someone else cut in.

“Get away from my brother!” 

Zach had appeared in the control room, his face sporting a darkening bruise, but it only served to make him more intimidating. 

“Zach!” Christopher exclaimed, shocked. 

“Get over here.” Zach commanded quietly. Deep down inside, Christopher had to fight against the urge to give in to his command. It didn’t stop the adrenaline from threading through his veins though, as he disobeyed the order.  
“No.” He replied timidly. 

“Excuse me?”

“You heard the man, Zach. Christopher is done with your bullshit.” Martin stepped forward. Christopher was thankful. On his own, he didn’t stand a chance against his manipulating brother.

“I… I’m done travelling with you, Zach. I’m going to go with Martin.” He said with a small smile as he looked to the blond. “I know he’s your enemy, but I love him, Zach. I’m sorry.”

He knew he was probably poking the bear by admitting this to his psychopathic brother, at the worst possible moment, but he had no regrets as he saw Martins face light up. It was one thing to admit you loved someone in the heat of sex, but admitting it in the face of danger was a different thing.

"Ugh. My other self should have killed you when he had the chance." Zach spat, pointing a gun towards Martin, who immediately put his hands up and took a few steps back. Neither of them had seen him holding it, and suddenly Christopher regretted his choice of timing on the love admission. "I guess he underestimated your disgusting bond. Well I won't make the same mistake."

"What are you talking about, Zach? Please put the gun down!" Christopher begged, slowly edging in front of Martin. His brother was understandably angry. He had technically chosen Martin over him, but threatening to kill the blond seemed a little extreme. Christopher was hesitant to call the bluff though. While Zach may have stopped him from murdering an innocent guard, he was currently emotional and this could be his chance to finally stop his number one enemy, homicide or not.

"Haven't figured it out yet, my dear brother? Or should I call you Chris Kratt?" Zach growled as he lowered the gun slightly. 

Christopher looked back at Martin, obviously confused. Had his brother lost it? The look on Martins face was full of regret, as though this information wasn’t a secret to him. Did Martin really believe that they could be brothers? Christopher knew he was adopted, but could he really be related to Martin of all people? It seemed like a pretty big coincidence.

"That's... impossible." Christopher let out a weak laugh. This had to be a sick joke... there was no way he was in love with his brother. His actual brother. "He can't be my brother."

"It's true, you're standing between him and my gun at the moment." Zach snarled. 

“I didn’t believe him at first either, Christopher… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I thought you’d hate me for… everything.” Martin put his face in his hands. For everything? For keeping the secret from him, or willingly sleeping with his own brother?  
"Remember when you were younger and I would tell you stories during thunderstorms because you were so scared you couldn't sleep? Well here is a good one. Once upon a time, a brilliant inventor fell in love with a research biologist who didn't love him back. In fact, the biologist loved his own brother more than anyone in the world." Zach continued, ignoring Martin’s interruption.

Christopher was confused, his brother really had lost his mind. None of this made sense. He looked back at Martin, who stared back at him, fear in his eyes. 

"Well, the inventor came up with a brilliant way to be with the research biologist forever. He knew things would never work out in his timeline so he stole another inventors work, something she liked to call the 'time trampoline' and used it to go back in time to change history." Zach continued his tale, taking a few steps toward Christopher. "He stole the biologist as a child and gave it to his family in the past. He then told his past self everything and even gave him the trampoline since his tampering in the past caused the timelines to become non-existent. He would become non-existent. At least in this alternate thread he would be able to be with the biologist for the rest of his life."

Christopher looked back at Martin who had collapsed to his knees, tears falling down his face. They were actually brothers? Zach's tale sounded outlandish, but the more he stared at Martin, the more similarities he saw between the two of them… Martin really was his brother. He had slept with, and tried to kill his own blood brother. 

Zach had twisted his thoughts and essentially raped him, knowing the truth whole time. This was just a game to him. Christopher had loved Zach, and still did, but this new revelation was tearing him apart. He hugged himself tight, trying to hold himself together. 

"I did this for you Christopher. I did it because I love you." Zach gave him a soft smile, reaching out to him and pulling him in. Tears fell from his eyes as his adoptive brother hugged him close. It was a hug he was so familiar with, one that usually brought him a lot of comfort when he needed it the most. 

"You used me... you don't love me, you just couldn't stand not having things your way. It never mattered what I wanted, unless it worked in your favour. You're sick and twisted." Christopher pulled back. "Martin was trying to help me the whole time but you made me believe he was my enemy. Well, I love him Zach. It doesn't matter that he's my brother. I’ll never love you, especially not after this betrayal."

Tears appeared in Zach’s eyes, but they didn’t fall. They were tears of anger and frustration. He doubted Zach felt bad for anything except that things hadn’t worked out the way he wanted them to. Maybe Zach didn’t honestly believe he was harming Christopher, but deep down inside, the younger man knew better. 

"Well. That's too bad. I guess I'll just have to try again." Zach threw him to the side, pointing the gun at Martin again and pulling the trigger. 

Time seemed to slow down. The two Kratt brothers looked at each other and Martin kept his eyes on him the whole time. It was as though he was trying to communicate something. And then the bullet hit him in the chest and he was thrown backwards. 

Christopher could hear himself scream, feel his body scrambling to get to Martin. He felt oddly detached from everything, as though he was watching a movie and not actually living it. There was too much blood. He checked the pulse but it was slow and weak. He accidentally painted Martins pale skin with blood that had coated his hands. Christopher couldn't breathe. Panic and fear had set in and he was trembling, at a loss of what to do as Martin bled out in front of him. He put his hands over the wound, but red kept pouring between his fingers

"I'm so sorry, Martin. I'll fix this, I promise. I'll fix this, just don't leave me, please." He mumbled, holding his brother to his chest. Martin’s eyes fluttered open, and a sad smile ghosted his lips. 

"I love you, Chris. I wanted us to travel around the world." He rasped out. Christopher pursed his lips and shook his head, tears trailing down his cheeks. Martin couldn't die. He couldn't. "I'm sorry."

It was the last words Christopher would ever hear his brother say. Martin’s eyes lost their light, and he went limp. 

If Christopher thought he had snapped before, he had been very wrong. A wretched sob escaped him as he clutched his brother’s dead body, rocking back and forth. Blood was soaking through his clothes, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. 

"I'm sorry, Christopher, things will be better next time." Zach explained to him in a very serious tone. His brother... no, the imposter seemed to have snapped as well. He was setting up the time trampoline that he had apparently 'inherited' from himself from another timeline. If he went back in time, it would be the equivalent of committing suicide in this timeline. If he altered anything in another timeline, he would cease to exist. Would Christopher cease to exist too? Would it matter if Zach succeeded anyways? They would be destined to continue this loop forever. 

No, that wasn't right either. Zach had said his other self should have killed Martin when he had the chance. It sounded like he would make good on his word. Christopher couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let another version of Martin suffer because of him.  
"Zach... don't do this. Please." His voice was hoarse from crying. 

"You said it yourself, you would never love me. If we take your brother out of the picture, I bet things will work out for us next time." Zach nodded as he gave him a smile that he could only describe as insane. His adoptive brother really had lost it. "I love you, Christopher. I'll see you in the next life." 

“NO!!” Christopher watched as Zach jumped on the trampoline and disappeared through a wormhole. He then glanced down at Martin. He couldn’t stay behind, but he didn’t want to abandon his brother’s body. With a gentle kiss to his Martin’s forehead, he laid him down on the ground. Christopher then dug through his pockets and pulled out the communication device, pressing a distress signal. His team would come and find his body… Probably assume that he had killed Martin, but it didn’t matter. He was leaving and wouldn’t be back. None of this would possibly exist soon anyways.

Christopher had nothing to live for in this timeline anymore. He was a wanted man with absolutely no resources, and the man he loved was dead. 

Zach had left this trampoline behind, meaning there had to be another one on the other side, otherwise he wouldn't be able to land. That meant that he only had a few options, and he would probably pick the one where the original Zach had kidnapped him. It would be the perfect time to kill Martin. 

The trampoline had a small screen that controlled the date. Looking through, he saw that there were only a select number of dates he could program in, since it all depended on when other trampolines had been set up. 

There was only one other time that he could choose that would predate Zach's arrival and he punched it in. With one last heart wrenching glance at Martin, he started jumping. 

“I promised to fix everything, Martin.” He whispered as he looked away. “I really hope this works.”

-

Normal Wild Kratts Timeline - Past

The brothers were in the rainforests of the Philippines, and had just escaped a Philippine monkey-eating eagle, using their monkey creature powers. They laughed as they headed back to the Tortuga, high on adrenaline from escaping near death... or at least serious injury. Aviva was busy giving them a lecture about being more careful, but Martin and Chris just smiled and nodded. They understood and agreed, but there was nothing quite like experiencing creature life up-close and personal. 

"We're sorry, Aviva. We just got carried away." Chris laughed, scratching the back of his neck. 

"Exactly! You might have even literally been carried away if you hadn't hopped away in time." She scolded them. "Just, be more careful from now on, alright?"

"We will!" The brothers said in unison. 

They had reached the Tortuga and started packing the gear into the loading bay. Aviva had gone in ahead while the brothers finished storing the equipment away. 

"Aviva is right, you know. Maybe you shouldn't have taken so long checking on the chicks." Martin said, dusting his hands off. Chris stood up and closed the cabinet doors, eyebrows knitted together. 

"Excuse me? Maybe you should have done a better job as a lookout. Or maybe even helped me so we could finish quicker." Chris replied, putting his hands on his hips. 

"Look, this whole thing was your idea. Climbing up to a Philippine eagles nest, as monkeys? Their prey? Sounds like you didn't really think the plan through." Martin crossed his arms, obviously annoyed. 

Just as Chris opened his mouth to retort, Aviva poked her head in the room. "Are you guys done yet? I need help setting the wing of the Philippine eagle."

"Yeah, we're done." Chris stomped out of the room. Martin was left standing in the middle of the room, anger instantly doused. Instead he ran a hand over his face and sighed.

"Uh oh. What happened in here?" Aviva asked, sensing the tension. 

"Nothing. We just need to cool down." Martin shook his head, trying to shake off his annoyance. The two of them had been bickering a lot more lately. He supposed they were just spending too much time together. It was easy to get on each other's nerves when you spent 24/7. 

"Maybe you should go talk. I have a surprise to show you guys, but I want you both there." She explained, patting him on the shoulder. 

Martin did just that. He knocked on his brother’s door before letting himself inside. Chris was laying on his bed, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling. 

"This is stupid. Why do we keep getting at each other's throats lately?" Chris asked as Martin sat on the bed next to him. 

"I don't know. Maybe we're spending too much time together..." Martin said as he laid down next to his brother. Chris automatically rolled in to cuddle, laying his head on his brother’s chest. One hand absentmindedly snuck under his shirt and ran over his stomach. Martin closed his eyes, trying to stay focused. Maybe they weren’t spending enough time together…

He opened his eyes and looked over at Chris, only to find his staring back. The rogue hand seemed like it was getting a lot lower.

“We can’t. Not right now.” Martin groaned, forcing himself to sit up. “Aviva has something she wants to show us.”

“Sure.” Chris let out a deep breath, sitting up next to him. “I guess later we can talk about… I don’t know, taking a break or something.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He replied. 

The two brothers dragged themselves out to the control room, where Aviva and the rest of the crew were gathered around a big grey contraption. She smiled and waved them over. Martin couldn’t help but smile as her excitement seemed infectious. Even Chris was grinning.

“I wanted to show you guys my newest invention!” She threw her arms out, posing like a gameshow model would show off the prize. The two brothers stared at the contraption, unsure of what it was. Chris placed a hand on the surface and found that it compressed and was bouncy. If he had to guess at what it was, he would say-

“A trampoline?” Chris pointed it out first. Aviva nodded, clearly excited. By the looks on everyone else’s faces, the surprise had fell flat.

"This isn't just any trampoline, it's a time trampoline!" She threw her arms wide. "With this you can actually jump back in time!"

As she explained her newest invention, what looked like a tear in the sky appeared, and a light beam fell over the trampoline. Everyone took a step back and stared at the machine.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Martin questioned, slightly alarmed. 

"No, well, yes. But it's impossible! Something is coming through, but it needs the second trampoline which only we have." Aviva shook her head in disbelief. There was a loud crack as someone passed through the ripped sky. 

Martin found himself staring at Chris, except it wasn't Chris. This version of his brother was far more rugged. He wasn't even sure rugged was the correct term. There were long claw marks down the side of his face, dark circles under his eyes and he was covered in dirt and blood. A lot of blood.

A quick glance at his brother showed that he was equally alarmed by his alter ego appearing. 

"Chris?" Koki asked. Martin wasn't sure which one she was speaking to, but the one on the trampoline answered. 

"No... I mean, yes." He rasped out. He looked bewildered as he stared down the brothers. "My name is Christopher, and I'm here to stop my brother."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know guys.... just go with it, okay?


	13. Chapter 13

Christopher fell through the time stream and landed on a trampoline back inside the Tortuga. The only way he knew for sure he was in the past... present? Was that he could see his alternate self, standing next to a very alive Martin. He wanted to cry seeing him alive and healthy. It wasn't fair.

The two brothers looked happy and healthy, and he found himself incredibly jealous. He resented that they had the chance to grow up, start a career, and just live their lives freely, together. This should have been his reality.

Someone startled him from his thoughts by saying his name incorrectly.

"No... I mean, yes." He rasped out, realizing too late that maybe she had been speaking to the original Chris. It didn't matter. He probably didn't have long, and needed to stop Zach. "My name is Christopher, and I'm here to stop my brother."

The two brothers looked at each other, obviously confused.

"Are you from the future? Why are you here to stop Martin?" Chris asked, stepping out from behind His brother. Christopher found his heart clenching the question. He had misspoken when he said he was here to stop his brother. Zach wouldn't be his brother in this timeline. Of course this innocent version of himself would ask about Martin.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and took a steadying breath. He could do this, for Martin. Christopher had promised that he would fix this. "I'm not from the future. I'm from an alternate reality, I guess. Zach is my adoptive brother and if we don't stop him then my reality will continue to loop." Everyone had gasped when he mentioned the alternate reality, and again when he mentioned he was Zach's brother.

"I-I don't understand." Chris asked him. He looked to Aviva for answers. “Is this a possibility?”

“I’ll be honest, I haven’t had the chance to test the trampoline. I don’t know much about timeline paradoxes either…” She shrugged. Martin stepped forward, placing his hands on the trampoline. Christopher realized he was still standing on top and everyone had to crane their necks to look up at him.

“Tell us what happened… How can we help you?” Martin asked. He was so innocent in this reality as well. A complete stranger, that happened to look like his brother, had appeared out of thin air, and all he wanted to do was help. This could all be an elaborate trick.

That was how Christopher knew that Zach really had done a number on his subconscious. Everything was a trick or a trap, and he should think of nothing but himself. How could his Martin have thought he was still himself after all this time?

"Your Zach is in love with you Chris, I'm not sure if you knew that." Christopher tore his eyes away from Martin and looked at Chris. The man gave a slight nod, and Christopher could imagine Zach probably constantly harassed him. His Zach had constantly harassed him too. Another glance at Martin proved it was the same here, as he looked annoyed. "He was angry that he couldn't be with you and believed that if he stole the time trampoline he could go back in time and take you away from Martin... And your family, of course."

He was trying to be careful with what he was saying, unsure if the crew of this timeline knew that they had a very 'close' relationship. By the looks they gave each other and how they fidgeted, they knew exactly what he was trying to imply.

"He thought that if you grew up with him, he could condition you to love him and even turn evil. I'm... I'm that version of you." His voice broke slightly. Everyone looked alarmed, and he didn't blame them. Christopher essentially just admitted to being evil. He sighed, stepping down from the trampoline. He felt exhausted, like he could just give in to the encroaching depression and just give up. Christopher looked to Martin, who had concern in his eyes, even if he wasn’t his real brother.

"Martin, I met up with you in my timeline. You helped me pull out of the downward spiral Zach put me in. I didn't learn you were my actual brother until it was too late..." Christopher walked up to the dirty blond man wanting nothing more than to throw himself into his arms. This wasn't his Martin though. It would be wrong and he couldn't do that to the memory of his Martin. Instead, he hugged himself, trying to keep his hands contained.

"Too late? Do you mean..." Martin asked, suddenly staring at the blood on his hands and clothing. Christopher nodded and turned away. The feelings were still too raw. He had to fight back the tears and compose himself. It wasn’t helping that he was coated in his blood. The memory of Martins dead eyes came to him, and he had to take a shuddering breath and put his hands over his eyes.

"Zach killed him and then jumped through time. It all started here, today. He'll come for the trampoline so he can go back in your timeline and kidnap Chris. Only this time, he plans to ensure Martin dies in this timeline as well. Zach wants to make sure he has no one to stop him from his twisted plans for you... for us, this time." There, Chris had gotten it out. Now it didn't matter what happened, At least he had managed to warn them. He wondered if at any moment he would simply blink out of existence after changing the past, or present. Or whatever this was.

"He'll never get his slimy hands on my invention." Aviva spat. She quickly miniaturized it, hugging it to her chest. “How will he try to do it?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know. I only know what little information I gleaned in the… final moments.” He looked away. Christopher was finding it hard to breath, and a few tears had leaked out. Oh why had Martin bothered to help him? Perhaps the army would have come to the aid of the miners, put the ‘terrorists’ in jail and freed the animals. Martin would still be alive if he hadn’t helped.

For the second time that night, he found himself sobbing. He just couldn’t hold the emotions back any longer. Christopher found himself wishing he could just blink out of existence, feeling unable to go on with his heavy conscious and a broken heart.

Martin took a step forward, but Chris thankfully stopped him. He didn’t think he could handle the contact. It would just break him further, and he doubted there was much left to break now.

-

While his alternate self mourned the loss of his brother, Chris and the others gave him some space. He and Martin guided him over to a chair, unsure of what else to do. Chris couldn’t imagine how he would feel if he watched Martin die in front of his eyes. He didn’t want to.

The team, meanwhile, quickly ran around the Tortuga, trying to lock it down. If Zach had the crazy notion of stealing the trampoline and kidnapping his younger self, Chris doubted he would be deterred by their lock-down procedures. He actually found himself scared, and he could tell that Martin was too. But as Christopher was left with the two brothers, his morbid curiosity took over.

"What happened to you?" Chris asked him, hesitantly reaching forward to touch the claw marks on his face. Christopher flinched, but allowed the touch. He took a shuddering breath and tried to compose himself before answering.

"I was attacked by a grizzly bear that I was trying to capture. I… uh, don't know much about animals." He said with a blush, obviously ashamed of both admissions.

Chris was stunned. There was a timeline out there where animals weren't his priority? He wanted to hate this version of himself, but it seemed like he had suffered enough already. Especially to have watched Zach kill Martin.

"I got a degree in environmental engineering though. I would have gone back to school if I hadn't gone travelling with my brother. I mean, Zach." Christopher continued with his explanation, as if trying to redeem himself. Chris could respect that even without his brother’s influence, he still managed to work towards the environment in some way. To be honest, it was strange hearing about all the choices he could have made without Martin’s influence on his life.

It was even stranger being able to talk to an alternate version of yourself. Christopher looked almost identical to him, under all the scars, but he seemed haunted. Whatever happened to him on the other timeline had obviously taken a toll on him mentally. Chris had to push away the strange jealousy he felt as he watched Christopher steal longing glances at Martin.

Martin, on the other hand, was trying to stay out of the conversation as much as possible. He knew his presence was probably both comforting and upsetting to his alternate self. He simply nodded encouragingly, or added a word here and there.

“And you? You travel with this crew?” Christopher asked quietly.

“Yeah. I have my degree in biology, and my brother and I are research biologists” He admitted, feeling guilty at the sight of Christopher suffering from the knowledge.

“It looks like Martin followed his original path in both worlds.” His other self spoke quietly. He gave a small smile to Martin before he continued. “You were an esteemed biologist, who had won a lot of awards. It was really impressive for someone your age. It was incredible how much you cared for animals.”

Chris also smiled at his brother. Martin was the same in this timeline. He had dedicated his life to learning about and helping animals, and was a respected researcher. They both were. The job was hard some days, so it was impressive that Martin could have done it all on his own without him. Chris found himself oddly proud of his brother from another reality.

His other self, however, took a shuddering breath and added: "He always saw the good in me, even if it wasn’t really there."

Chris looked at Martin, who looked at him. Their fights lately suddenly seemed so trivial. How could they ever have thought that taking a break from each other was what would solve the problem. There was no problem, not compared to how bad it could have actually been. Chris tried to imagine how Christopher felt, knowing he would never see his Martin ever again. He felt sick to his stomach, and there was a dull ache in his chest. It was obvious that Martin felt the same way, maybe even more so. He seemed distressed.

"Christopher, I'm sorry my alternate self can't be with you right now when you need him the most. You're all alone now, what will you do?" Martin blurted out, somehow guilty that his other self wasn't there to support him. Chris supposed he felt the same way. He couldn't imagine dying and leaving Martin to deal with the grief and loneliness that would ensue. Not to mention that Christopher had embarked on this incredible journey to stop his 'brother' in a completely different world than he was used to, after all that had happened.

"It doesn't matter. It's too late for me anyways. My days, maybe even hours, are numbered." Christopher said as he wiped away the tears that had escaped. "I'm changing the flow of time by being here, and altering it. I'll possibly cease to exist at some point."

The two brothers stared at each other in shock. They were speechless. Christopher, after all of this, was destined to not exist?

"I promised Martin I would fix this. Everything is my fault, and I owe it to him. And both of you.” He sighed.

“Well, this has all been very informative!” A familiar high-pitched, whiney voice laughed out. Suddenly, Zach appeared in the middle of the control room, pulling off an invisibility cloak. “I’m happy to hear my plan was somewhat successful!”

“Zach.” Both he and Christopher ground out at the same time. If this hadn’t been so serious it might have been comical. Martin put himself in front of the two of them, shielding them from the pale inventor.

“Your plan might have been successful in the past, but there is no way you’re getting a hold of my trampoline this time!” Aviva growled. She held the time trampoline to her chest while Koki and Jimmy shielded her from the front.

“Don’t make me laugh.” He waved his hand at them. With a quick nod from their master, Zachbots suddenly appeared in the room, trapping the three of them in cages made from lasers. They protested, but weren’t able to break free. Zach, meanwhile, picked up the fallen trampoline and laughed. “Too easy.”

“You won’t get away with this, Zach.” Martin said, still guarding him and Christopher.

“I’ll take my own advice and make sure to get rid of you when I go back in time. It will be my number one priority.” Zach said, glaring at Martin. Then he glanced behind him at the two twins. “I have to say, Christopher. You don’t look like you’ve fared well as a Varmitech. What happened to you?”

-

Christopher glared, but didn’t reply. This Zach looked identical, but acted different than the one he called brother. More cocky and self-entitled. He didn’t speak to him with any sort of respect or warmth. While his brother hadn’t shown him m either in the end, Zach had been a supportive, loving brother for most of his life. Had his presence in his life helped in anyway? Christopher still found it hard to reconcile the monster his brother had become in the end, with the brother who supported him through university. Had it always been an act, just lurking under the surface, or had something changed? It didn’t matter anymore. All Christopher would remember was how he had taken this life away from him, taken Martin away from him, supportive brother or not.

“No really, I’d like to know so we don’t repeat it.” He said, stepping around Martin to Chris and running a hand along his cheek. “You’re too beautiful to be hidden under scars.”

Chris slapped his hand away and both Martin and Christopher stepped forward.

“Back off, Zach. Touch me again and I’ll-“

“You’ll what?” Zach laughed as another Zachbot appeared out of thin air and stood in the way of the others, leaving just Zach and Chris in the middle of the room together. “You should be the one afraid of me. Look at your twin over there, it looks like I did a pretty good job of breaking him by the sounds of it, and I can do the same to you. You should have never rejected me, Chris Kratt.”

As if to prove his point he grabbed Chris by the wrist and yanked him over. His alternate self stumbled forward, off balance, into Zach’s waiting arms. Before anyone could react, he roughly grabbed Chris’ face and forced his tongue deep into his mouth.

All hell broke loose. Martin growled and tried to jump at Zach, but the Zachbot held him back. Christopher momentarily froze up, his own abuse coming back to him and making his heart race. Koki, Jimmy and Aviva yelled and pushed against their cages. Chris shoved Zach off, spitting and wiping his mouth. By the shocked look on his face, Zach had never been so forceful in the past.

But then again, he had obviously had some sort of mental breakdown if he was willing to steal the time trampoline and carry out his crazy plan.

“I would have treated you better than Martin.” Zach spat out. “You’ll see… you’ll see soon when I change our past. I’ll make you so happy.”

Zach threw the trampoline to the floor, causing it to expand into the normal size. Before anyone could think of stopping him, Zachbots grabbed them each from behind, wrapping their long arms around. The whole team was officially subdued now, with the crew in cages. Christopher saw red as Zach fiddled with the trampoline settings but there was nothing he could do. Then, Zach’s sight landed on him, and he sauntered over casually.

“Hmmm… Maybe I don’t need to go to the past. After all, I have my ‘brother’ here with me now.” Zach ran his hand through Christopher’s hair. It caused feelings of disgust and fear to run through him. “You could stay with me. We could continue where my alternate self left off.”

“I’d rather die than go anywhere with you, ever again.” Christopher growled. There wasn’t much else he could do to show his displeasure, especially since Zach’s hand was still gripping his hair.

“I’ll let you choose. I can go back in time and murder your brother, or you can stay here with me. How does that sound?” Zach leaned forward and nuzzled his neck, just like his own ‘brother’ used to. His skin crawled, but he let him do it. Maybe this was true karma. In order to save Martin, he should sacrifice himself, just as he had done for him. Besides, after all the awful things he had done in his timeline, perhaps Christopher deserved to suffer.

“No, Christopher. Don’t even consider it.” Martin said, pulling him out of his downward spiral of self-loathing. Christopher wouldn’t be happy with either of the options, but he at least had to try.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll stay with you if you leave Martin alone.” Christopher mumbled. He doubted the man would stick to his words, but he also knew how desperate Zach was to be loved by Chris. Even if he wasn’t the real Chris, he was close enough.

Everyone protested, but Zach simply grinned. “Alright, show me how much I mean to you. Prove to me that you want this as much as I do.” The robot restraining him let go, but he stayed where he was. “Come on, baby. Show me how you like it.”

Christopher couldn’t get his arms or legs to move. He was shocked to realize he was terrified. He knew what Zach was capable of now, and there would be no mercy for him this time. Not having grown up with this man meant that he wouldn’t be as ‘compassionate’ towards him. When Christopher didn’t listen to his demands, Zach narrowed his eyes.

“This wasn’t just a trick to free you, was it? Do you need some motivation?” He smirked, turning to look at Martin. “Go on, Zachbots. Inspire Christopher.”

The Zachbot holding Martin transformed the end of its arm into a long blade and placed it against his neck. Martin strained to pull his head back as much as he could, but the edge of the blade was still able to draw some blood. Christopher watched in horror as the trickle of blood dripped into his blue fleece. More blood. It was too much. Christopher stared down at the blood painting his own clothing and skin. So much blood.

“Stop it, Zach!” Chris cried out, struggling against the robot arms. He was panicked, finally able to connect the stories Christopher told to real life. “Please don’t do this!”

“That is completely up to Christopher.” Zach said. Without a second thought, Christopher took a step forward, and then another one, until he was finally face-to-face with his brother’s alternate self. He could do this. He had done it before; he could do it again. Pushing his emotions away, and building a wall in his mind, he reached forward and clutched Zach’s black sweater in his hands. Christopher then pulled him in for a slow kiss, parting his mouth to deepen it.

He couldn’t stop the shame and hatred of himself that poured through his mental barriers. He was kissing his brother’s murderer. He was kissing the man that had raped and abused him. He was a monster, kissing another monster. It didn’t help that everyone had gasped as he did it. The things they must think of him at this moment.

“Good. I did a good job breaking you in the other reality.” Zach said as he pulled back, slightly flushed. Christopher stared at the floor, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. “Let’s see what else you can do when you’re broken all over again. Zachbots, get ready to finish him.”

Everyone screamed as the Zachbot repositioned the blade against Martin’s neck, ready to make another pass. Christopher tried to jump forward, but Zach wrapped his arms possessively around his hips. He rested his chin on Christophers shoulder and whispered in to his ear.

“It will be over soon, I promise. Then we can get out of here.” Zach then gently bit down on the skin where the neck meets the shoulder, but Christopher couldn’t feel anything. Martin was about to die again. It was going to be his fault again. Martin stared at his brother, who begged, and pleaded with Zach. The girls cried from somewhere in the back. As Zach gave the final order, Martin kept looking at Chris, a few tears trailed down his cheeks.

Christopher snapped. He ripped out of Zach’s hands and gripped the blade, just before it could move. It cut deep into the flesh of his hand, but he refused to let go. With strength he didn’t know he had, he ripped the arm off of the Zachbot. Christopher said a quick prayer of thanks that this Zach also made cheap robots, before turning and plunging the knife in to Zach’s shoulder.

Zach screamed in pain, falling backwards from the weight of the robot arm, taking Christopher with him. The stupid arm was in his way, so he ripped the blade out of the pale skin, causing blood to pour out of the wound.

“You might not have killed my Martin, but you still caused his death. This Martin doesn’t deserve to die either.” He spoke quietly to Zach, although everyone could hear.

“You’d rather stay here with them? I’d make you happier than they ever could.” Zach said through clenched teeth. Christopher had pinned him down so he wasn’t able to put pressure on his wound. If he bled out it would be karma, he thought to himself.

“I already know your brand of ‘happy’. You used me however you pleased. You broke me, twisted my thoughts and raped me when I turned you down. I don’t think you honestly love Chris; you just couldn’t stand not having him!” He sobbed. “I’ll make sure you never touch either of us again.”

Christopher pinned him down and wrapped his hands around his neck. Zach scrabbled at his hands, and scratched his arms, but he just increased the pressure. As though the grey wolf instincts had imprinted on him, he wanted blood. He wanted to see the light go out of Zach’s eyes, just as Martin’s had. The hands scrabbling at his own started to get weaker, and the older man’s eyes started to tear up. He was terrified. Good.

“Stop it, Christopher… This isn’t you.” Martin said softly. His statement was an echo from the past. It was the same thing his Martin had said to him only a few hours ago, and it rocked him through to his core. As though breaking a spell, he instantly let go and fell backwards.

Zach grasped his neck, pulling in harsh breaths. Christopher kneeled and stared down at him.

“You owe Martin your life, do you understand?” He spoke quietly down at the man, who stared back, wide-eyed and terrified. “And stay away from Chris, because he will never love you. No matter what sick plan you have. I’m proof of that.”

“Get out, before I let Christopher change his mind.” Martin growled. Chris stood next to him, anger etched on his face, staring down at the man.

Zach couldn’t scramble out of there fast enough. The tension was still thick in the air once he was gone, but was slowly bleeding out. Everyone realized just how close they had come to losing both Martin and the time trampoline to a monster. Time would tell if Zach had actually learned his lesson, coming face to face with the possibility of dying. Maybe he would realize that pushing Chris too far could produce someone that was willing to kill for revenge. As Christopher looked at Chris, he wondered if the man was thinking that himself. Deep down inside, he had the drive to kill if he needed to. Christopher hoped he would never have to get to that point in his life.

Now that Zach wasn’t successful in thieving the trampoline, he doubted Chris would ever find himself in that situation. The timeline was officially restored. However…

"I haven't disappeared." He said, staring at his hands as though he would start fading out at any minute. "...Could it be because my brother is still out there?"

"Shouldn't the act of stopping Zach in this timeline have stopped your timeline from ever happening?" Koki questioned.

"What if their timeline is being anchored by them being in the corrected timeline?" Aviva wondered aloud. "Or maybe life will go on in your world as an alternate reality?"

"I don't know, but the fact that Martin is still alive and Chris is still here makes me believe that we at least succeeded in keeping Zach from carrying out his original plan." Christopher

“Martin, are you okay?” Chris asked, turning to his brother. The cut on his neck wasn’t too deep and had already stopped bleeding. Martin gave him a small smile and nodded. The two of them stared at each other for a little longer, as though speaking without words. It cut Christopher deeper than he expected. He missed his Martin so bad at that moment he thought he might die himself.

Instead, he wearily climbed back on to the trampoline.

"Where are you going? You can stay here with us, you know. You don't have to be alone." Chris held out his hand to him. They were offering to let him stay and live the life he didn't get to have. But he had to find his brother and make sure the loop had been severed for sure. He gave his alternate self a small smile and shook his head.

"I'm going to find my brother. I mean… Zach. If I’m still here, he must be too. I need to stop him and make sure he doesn’t do any more damage. I don’t know how this all works, but I have to at least try." Christopher said quietly. He looked between the two brothers and found himself happy for them. If he couldn't save His Martin, at least they could have what he didn't. Before he left, he made sure he had both of their attention. "Take care of each other."

“Thanks Christopher… for everything. You almost sacrificed yourself for me. For all of us.” Martin said before he could jump. “I hope you succeed, and find some peace. Just know you always have a place with us.”

Christopher nodded, and started to jump. Chris, Martin and the rest of the team watched him go, and no one spoke afterwards. The whole event had happened in just over an hour, and they were still processing everything.

Aviva decided that perhaps a time trampoline wasn't the smartest idea, and decided to dismantle it. The two brothers retreated to their room, still in shock from all that had happened. As soon as they were behind closed doors they both started talking at once.

"I'm so sorry for fighting with you lately." Martin began, while Chris said "I'm so thankful to have you as my brother."

The two of them both quieted, and held each other tight instead.

"I love you, Martin." Chris held him as close as possible, feeling like he couldn't get enough of his brother’s body surface on him. He vowed to follow Christopher's request as best as he could. He would take care of Martin and not take him for granted.

"I love you too, Chris." Martin replied, wrapping his arms possessively around his brother, as if challenging the universe to try and harm him. He would make sure that that he took care of Chris to the best of his ability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just don't know what I'm doing anymore lol


End file.
